When Darkness Falls
by Keiko Oda
Summary: When 16 year old Mikan meets her worst nightmare, things change especially after sunset. Believe in vampires? How about falling in love with one?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note**

Hey everyone!! This is entitled **When Darkness Falls **– its nothing too dark or should I say…emo? Hehe. This was inspired by the movie 'Interview with the Vampire'. Oh yeah, defrosted chicken is back!! But don't worry, I won't put too much defrosted chickens. Hope you enjoy! Oh yes, like my other fan fic – My Favorite Loser, Mikan studies in Junkuji High School in Nagoya.

**Disclaimer**

I don't own Gakuen Alice

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**When Darkness Falls**

By Keiko Oda

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**SLAP **

"I…I look like a defrosted chicken?!?!"

"Defrosted chickens are cute…you should be flattered!"

"Be flattered because I look like frozen poultry?"

"You don't…you don't understand!!"

"Oh, I understand very well! We're OFF Kaito!"

He sat on the kitchen floor, crying his eyes out. The one he loved the most has just walked out of his life. He stood up and took out his prized possession from the freezer and smiled weakly.

"I guess it's just you and me, Chicken" he said and stroked his beloved cold, dead and uncooked bird.

"You and me…forever" he whispered and stared into the abyss.

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"GOOD MORNING!!!"

Hi. I'm Mikan Sakura – sixteen year old pig-tailed brunette junior at Junkuji High School. I live with my grandpa since my parents died a long time ago, so my grandpa took me in to take care of me. But it's okay, I don't remember them that much since they died when I was an infant.

"Good morning" my classmates said in unison as I walked to my seat. I opened my bag as I took out my books and pencil case as I hummed a song that I heard this morning on the radio.

"Good morning, Mikan-chan" a familiar voice whispered. I looked up, it was my good friend Ruka Nogi. Blond, starry-eyed…charming Ruka… he sits in front of me during class and he's very much interested in the _paranormal _world.

"Good morning, Ruka-pyon" I said, and stared at the book he was clutching.

"I see you have borrowed another book from the library" I said, pointing to the book.

"Oh yeah…I did just the other day" he said and showed me the book.

**ALL ABOUT VAMPIRES**

_Getting to know these bloodsucking creatures_

"They are native to Transylvania and Scandinavia…and northern parts of Europe" he said, opening a page that had a collage of different vampires. I shuddered as I saw their bloody fangs, oily-looking hair and yellowish eyes. I was extremely scared of them…the fear started when I was five-years old during Halloween… I don't want to remember that terrible memory.

Before I could even reply, Mr. Narumi entered the classroom and all of us took our seats.

"Good morning, class" he said and we replied a 'good morning' to him as well.

"We have lots to cover this term, but before that…" he said and scribbled something on the board.

**IMAI HOTARU**

"You have a new classmate to join us, Imai Hotaru" he continued and walked to the door and slid it open.

A dark-haired girl with emotionless violet eyes slowly 'glided' into the classroom, her pale skin blending in with the white wall as she passed it and faced the class. She scanned the classroom with those dead looking eyes and finally introduced herself.

"Good morning. I'm Hotaru from Kyoto, nice to meet you all." Her voice sounded like a dying kitten's cry. She faced Ruka and I and seemed to examine us carefully, then she turned to Mr. Narumi again.

"Hotaru, please find a seat. There's one there," he told her, and pointed to the vacant seat beside Ruka which once belonged to a transfer student a term ago.

Hotaru nodded slowly and glided to the seat. She sat down there and took out her things from her bag. Aside from school supplies, she took out a black stuffed toy bunny with green buttons for eyes and conspicuous stitches that held the legs, head and tail together. There were pins on its back – the pinheads had faces (which really made me have a strange feeling because pinheads don't usually have faces). And there was a blue thing stitched to its chest that roughly took the shape of a heart. It looked more of a voodoo doll than a stuffed toy to me.

"Mikan Sakura" I said, extending my hand.

Hotaru just looked at it and looked at me again. "You know who I am already" she said coldly and turned to the board.

"Ruka Nogi," Ruka said. "Your new seatmate." he smiled.

She nodded and glanced at Ruka's book.

"Is that a book about vampires?" she asked softly.

"Yeah! It is!! Are you interested in them as well? Aren't they fascinating? The way they suck blood and stuff…"

"I find them horrible!" I blurted out. "They're hideous!"

Hotaru just nodded and looked at her bunny.

"Is that stuffed toy for Home Economics? Because it looks like a pin cushion." I said, pointing to the bunny.

She looked insulted.

"No." she said flatly.

_Ruka's POV_

I noticed as she took out more things out of her bag, she had several black stitches sewed onto her fingers…well…at least they looked like stitches.

When she put down her arm, I took it and examined her arm carefully. It was pale like the rest of her appearance, but her hand really looked like it was stitched together. It was amazing.

"Don't touch me" she hissed and removed her arm out of my grasp.

"I…I'm sorry…it's just that I thought I saw stitches on your fingers…did you get into an accident or something?"

"None of your business" she muttered and didn't speak to me after that.

_Mikan's POV_

"Hotaru-chan, you want to eat with us?" I offered, when recess arrived. I pointed to my group which consisted of my friends: Ruka, Koko, Yuu, Anna and Nonoko.

"I mean, because you're a new student and…"

"We'd love to have you eat with us" Anna smiled…and the rest of my group nodded.

"No, thank you. I'd rather go on by myself" Hotaru replied plainly and picked up her 'Voodoo Bunny'.

"Are you attached to the bunny?" Ruka asked.

Hotaru looked at Ruka, with a sad expression pasted on her face. Then she turned around again.

"See you after lunch" she said softly and glided out of the classroom. She then disappeared out of sight as we followed her out of classroom.

"She freaks me out" Ruka laughed nervously.

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After school, I went to the supermarket to buy some dinner for grandpa and I. I happened to run into Hotaru.

"Oh, hey Hotaru" I said, as I met her in the Poultry section.

She was putting in several chickens inside her basket.

"You're really fond of chicken, are you?" I said, watching her chuck down lots of chicken down the basket.

She still didn't reply.

"Don't you eat anything else?"

"I don't…I don't eat that much" she replied softly.

Before I could say anything else, she turned to me – still with that sad expression plastered on her face.

"Now, if you excuse me – I'm going to the check-out counter" she said and disappeared into the supermarket crowd. She looks sad. It looks like those purple eyes cry all the time.

I reached home after doing the shopping.

"I'M HOME!" I yelled, removing my school shoes and putting on my slippers.

Grandpa was in the dining room watching a talk show.

"Hi grandpa" I said, kissing him on the cheek.

"Ssh…" he said, putting his finger on his lips. "I'm watching a talk show on this person who had a deathly encounter with a vampire"

"God, grandpa. You know those things don't exist" I said, rolling my eyes as I put the food in the refrigerator.

"I've always believed that there were _others _beside us, humans"

I laughed and brought him some tea. I watched the talk show with him.

"_So the vampire swoops down on me, I feel all cold as his nails dig down my neck. Then I scramble helplessly on the floor and switch on the lamp. The vampire screeches and lets go of my neck. I watch the creature fly out of the window as he took the shape of a bat." _

"It's obviously fake." I commented, as the guest finished speaking.

"Ssh" grandpa said.

"_There have been many reported cases of different paranormal creatures appearing in Kyoto – which is known to have lots of ghosts and creatures inhabiting it." _

Wasn't Hotaru-chan from Kyoto?

Grandpa switched off the television. "Let's have dinner."

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After washing the plates, grandpa went to his room to sleep. Thoughts of vampires and all those creatures raced across my head as I took a shower up to the time I switched on my lamp to do my homework. I was beginning to get scared, my heart raced as I tried desperately to get engrossed in my Trigonometry. But I couldn't…I was too scared.

After hours of trying to get into my Math problem, I checked my bedside alarm clock – it read in big green digital numbers: **1:45 am **

I rubbed my eyes and decided to do my homework at school. I stretched and opened my blanket to sleep. I put myself in my comfortable position and readied myself to greet the sandman.

I was already half asleep when I heard my curtains softly flutter. I sat up and checked my alarm clock: **2:00 am. **

I opened my window. There was no wind at all. I closed the window again and covered it with my curtains once more, then I heard something creak in the hallway. This was getting very scary. Had a robber broken into the house? I wanted to cry. But if a robber had entered, I must protect my house.

I took out a baseball bat from my drawer. I was in the Baseball Club when I was grade six so it was a good thing I kept my bat. I took out my flashlight as well and put in fresh batteries. I opened my door and searched around my house. There was no burglar. But I had an intense feeling that my house wasn't safe at all.

As I neared my room, I heard a noise coming from grandpa's room. Was the burglar in there? I touched the door and slowly opened it, what I saw made my heart stop beating and my eyes shoot open.

A dark figure was hovering over my grandpa. I could hear its breathing. Oh my god. What was happening?

I tip toed inside my grandpa's room, the dark figure now covering half of grandpa's body. If it was a serial killer, I couldn't let my grandpa get killed – especially in front of me!

My fear suddenly vanished as I felt strength and courage rise. I lunged toward the creature which now looked up at me with ruby colored eyes. I hit it several times on what I think was its head.

"GET OFF GRANDPA!!" I screeched as I felt the creature slowly crawl toward the window. I hit it more as it gave up and collapsed on the floor.

"Mikan…what's going on?" grandpa asked, sitting up half-awake. I looked at grandpa and locked the door.

"There's…there's a killer in the room" I said shakily and switched on the lights.

I was expecting a thug with several tattoos with a gun or a knife sprawled on the floor. But no...

What I saw was much out-of-the-ordinary. What was lying sprawled on the floor was a boy that looked about my age with jet black hair unconscious. He was wearing black with a black cape on his back. Oh my…did I just beat up an innocent person?

I looked closely, his mouth fell open. There were two fangs in his mouth – and his skin was as white as a sheet.

Oh my God.

It's a vampire.

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**End of Prologue**


	2. Blood Relatives

**Author's Note**

Thank you to the following people who reviewed the prologue: _Anastasia, rurico, Natsumesama, dzgtfan2004, Ju-San YumeEngel, Meny-chan, i.luvB.R, littledoggy. _Anyway, here's the second chapter. Hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer**

Own Gakuen Alice? You must be kidding!

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**Chapter II **

Blood Relatives

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I'm Mikan Sakura. Aside from being a pig-tailed brunette and junior in Junkuji High School, I'm a super non-believer in vampires and the rest of the paranormal world (well, there's a tendency sometimes for me to get scared when my imagination churns differently, but most of the time – I think the thought of vampires are just too ridiculous to be true). I mean who ever heard of blood-sucking people? Come on!

But, lying before my eyes – was an honest-to-god vampire. Well, at least I thought he was. He looked very much like what I've seen in movies: pale, raven-haired with a pair of sharp fangs. But what really proved it was that he looked like he was preying upon my grandpa.

All of a sudden, his skin started turning red. Oh, I forgot that vampires' skin is extremely sensitive to the sun.

Grandpa and I were too startled to speak.

"Uh… Mikan, please bring him. I'll think about this while you're at it!"

I dragged the unconscious body to the guestroom. What the hell was going on? I'm holding someone that could kill me right now. His body was so cold that he seemed dead. My heart raced as I opened the door of the guestroom and lay him on the futon. I stared at him and scrutinized his vampire features very carefully. Yup, he was scary.

I ran out the door and went to grandpa who was just staring into space.

"Jii-chan…"

"What was that boy thinking? Couldn't his parents be worried? We have to put a notice around Nagoya that there's a missing boy wandering about. Of all the places, why would he go to our home? This is so confusing!"

What? Grandpa didn't know he was a vampire?

"Jii-chan…didn't you notice his strange..erm… appearance? The jet black hair, the extremely pale skin and the…fangs?" I said, and shuddered at the last word.

"Yes I did! He must a foreigner. I mean, we Japanese don't dress as ridiculous as that. He looks like he's wearing a Halloween costume…like…a vampire!"

"Don't you think that he could be one?"

Grandpa started laughing.

"Mikan-chan, be serious!"

"B-but the talk show we were watching awhile ago…he was talking about…"

Grandpa just continued laughing.

"Mikan-chan, is two thirty – don't you think you should be getting some sleep? You have school tomorrow. And we have to wake up extra early to tend to that boy – I think I saw a wound on his arm"

"Jii-chan… but…that boy…"

"Good night, Mikan-chan" Grandpa said, slowly ushering me out the door.

"Jii-chan! He looks like a vampire…I swear…I'm not kidding!"

"Make pancakes for the boy tomorrow morning, we have to be courteous to our guest"

"Jii-chan!!" I said, as he shut the door.

"Good night, Mikan-chan!" a muffled voice said from behind the door.

Jii-chan? Can't you sense his…vampire-like aura?

That night, I couldn't think about even sleeping. I lay on my bed with my heart beating fast. He couldn't be a vampire! I mean…they don't exist right? But I suddenly got the intense feeling that he was one. Not only his appearance, but the feeling he gave out. It was so scary…it was like I wasn't safe in my own home anymore…like he could pounce at me anytime…

He could kill me.

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Morning came. The sun peeped into my room as I stood up and stared at my new hideous eye bags in the mirror. I didn't get enough sleep last night; I was too busy worrying whether I would be his next victim.

I went out the door and stretched my arms. Grandpa told me to make pancakes, so I should. I took out the pancake mix from the drawer and the rest of the ingredients. I cracked two eggs in a bowl and started beating them. I yawned and I poured some milk into the bowl.

"Ohayo, Mikan" Grandpa said, coming out from his room.

"Ohayo, jii-chan" I replied.

"Are you done making the pancakes?"

"Soon…I guess…" I said.

"Okay. When you're done, bring pancakes to the boy"

I dropped my whisk. Oh my God, I forgot about that.

I turned around. "B-but…jii-chan…"

"Is there a problem?"

"YES! There is! If I bring pancakes to him, he's gonna lunge at me and tear my neck out"

"Don't be silly. That boy doesn't look like a serial killer…"

"YEAH! He looks like a vampire, that's what!"

"Since when did you become so superstitious? I know a vampire when I see one"

"Jii-chan…if I walk into that room and scream, that means I'm dying…"

Grandpa just looked at me.

"Are the pancakes done?"

"Yes…jii-chan"

Forcing people is bad. But I guess grandpa doesn't know this rule. I put the pancakes on a plate and walked nervously to the guestroom. The curtains were still drawn and not a single ray of sunlight peered out of the window. It was dark and only his sleeping figure could be seen.

"Jii-chan…he's still sleeping" I whispered to grandpa who was watching him from the door as well.

"Just put the pancakes there"

"Do I have to?"

Grandpa nodded.

I rolled my eyes and walked slowly to the room. I placed the pancakes on the table and stared at the sleeping boy.

"Ohayo" I whispered softly.

No reply.

"Um, I brought some breakfast for you so… please help yourself. They're pancakes…I hope you like them" I said.

No reply.

I walked closely to the futon and stared at him. I wanted to poke his cheek to see if he was still alive. But it was obvious that he was breathing. The air he breathed out came in very cold. It was like he was an air-conditioner.

I was about to stand up when his ruby eyes shot open and he placed his hands on my neck. I wanted to yell but no voice could seem to come out of my mouth. I wriggled around as he lifted me up from the ground and stared at me with pure hate.

"Who are you?" he said softly.

I couldn't reply. I was too scared.

Then he put me down and looked at the pancakes. "You should know better than pancakes, you stupid human" he said. His voice was so scary. Its as if he was talking poison, and every little word burnt like acid.

"Your blood isn't worth my time anyway" he said, staring at me.

"Gomenasai!" I yelled and ran out the door.

"Jii-chan!! He's really a vampire – he grabbed my neck!!" I said, running to grandpa.

Grandpa went to the guestroom and opened the door, the boy was still sleeping.

"Mikan, I'm very disappointed in you. Stop letting your imagination run off – when you get back from school, please check on the guest and bring him something to eat" grandpa said and walked off.

But I swear he grabbed my neck.

I swear he's a vampire.

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"Mikan-chan, are you feeling alright?" Ruka asked and looked at me.

I quit facing the window and smiled nervously.

"Yes. I'm alright. I just had a nightmare…you know nightmares…they…they seem to…scare the life out of you" I said and looked down.

"It must've been bad, huh?"

"NOGI! SAKURA! Stop talking!" Mr. Misaki said, and banged the eraser on the board.

"Gomenasai!" we told him and quickly stopped speaking to each other.

"Anyway, before that interruption, I'm going to group you into three for your project on animals. You and your group mates shall be taking care of these hamsters to see how the respond in different environments and such. Submit an eight-page report on your observations next Monday. If your hamster dies, you may write a report on its death and its cause as well. This is twenty-five percent of your Science grade so I expect you to do well" Mr. Misaki said and gasped for air.

He took out a clip board and read out names.

"Nogi, Sakura and Imai" he said and looked at us. I looked at Hotaru who looked at Ruka and I with emotionless eyes and looked back at Mr. Misaki. She's really scary.

After announcing the rest of the peoples' names, he told us that we can observe the hamster in each others' houses. He gave us one hamster. It was brown with black beady eyes. It was so cute.

"It's great that we get to work with you, Hotaru-chan" I said, smiling at my seemed-to-be-dead friend.

Hotaru just nodded and looked at the hamster carefully.

"Do…do hamsters have souls?" she inquired softly.

Ruka and I looked at each other in a weird way.

"I don't know" I said. "Why?"

"Just a sudden thought" she muttered.

"Hey, why don't we all do the project in my house today? We can eat the leftover pancakes this morning"

"Project, yes. Leftover pancakes – not quite keen about that" Ruka smiled.

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The three of us walked to my place together – it was getting quite dark already. Hotaru stroked her Voodoo Bunny while we walked.

"Why are you so obsessed with that bunny?" Ruka asked, pointing to the stuffed toy.

"I'm not obsessed with Kanashimi" Hotaru replied sharply.

"It's name is Kanashimi…doesn't Kanashimi mean sorrow?"

"Yes – it means sorrow. And if you've got a problem with her name, you can keep your mouth shut"

"Fine! But what are the pins on its back for? Are you some voodoo girl or something?"

"I don't intend to speak about the reasons of things"

Ruka just stared at Sorrow who seemed to wink at him. He shuddered and I opened the front door.

"I'M HOME!!" I yelled. There was no reply. Grandpa must've gone out.

"Jii-chan doesn't seem to be home…let's do our project here. Do you guys want anything? A soda or something?"

"Coke" Ruka said, staring at the hamster lovingly.

"How about you Hotaru? You must be hungry…"

"I'm not hungry"

"But I haven't seen you eat…even at lunch"

"I don't eat that much"

I just took out two glasses and poured coke on it. I went to the table and gave the other glass to Ruka. Hotaru just stared at us hungrily, but didn't change her mind.

"Let's see how hamsters respond to the refrigerator!" Ruka grinned.

"That's stupid" Hotaru commented.

Before I could say anything else, a dirty empty plate was thrown on me.

"HEY! WHO THROW THAT?!" I yelled and stood up.

"I hate pancakes" a sinister voice said. I turned around and saw the 'boy' standing in front of me. His auburn eyes staring at mine, they were like daggers stabbing me several times. He looked at Ruka and Hotaru (he glared at Hotaru the most) and looked at me again.

"I hate pancakes" he said again.

"Gomen!" I said softly and put the plate on the sink. "I'll give you something different next time…it's just that…"

"Just shut up!" the boy said. "I'm tired of having these damn headaches!"

"Oy. Mikan…who's that?" Ruka asked, pointing to the boy. Not caring whether it was bad manners to ask when the person was standing right there.

Oh God. What could I say? Mikan, Mikan – think of something.

"He's…he'smyrelativefromTransylvania!" I spilled out, and immediately covered my mouth with my hand. That's stupid.

Ruka's face lit up. "Aren't there vampires in Transylvania? Because I read this book and it said that vampires are native to Transylvania---"

"What gave you that idea?" the boy asked "How the hell should I know if there are vampires in Transylvania…I've never been to that---"

"Um…you want coke?" I interrupted, getting the bottle from the refrigerator.

"And you were saying?" Ruka said, turning to the vampire again.

"I'm from Kyoto"

"I thought he was from Transylvania…"

"We're not that close so…I don't know…"

"Anyway, Imai-san is from Kyoto as well"

Hotaru gave the vampire a weird look. "Yes, I am"

The vampire glared back.

"So…you and him are **blood relatives**?"

"YES!…b-b-blood relatives" I nodded and gulped down the whole glass of coke. Oh God, the whole "blood" thing is making me nervous.

"What's your name anyway?" Ruka asked, turning to the vampire once more.

"Hyuuga Natsume"

"We're cousins" I said. Oh, this is getting dumber and dumber.

"Shut up!" Natsume shouted.

"Gomen" I said, sitting down. I'm such a push-over, dammit.

"Hey – you want to go to the park with us tomorrow?"

"We're going to the park?" I asked excitedly. I LOVE PARKS.

"Yeah – didn't Mr. Misaki say we have to observe the hamster in different environments?"

"Oh, that's right" Hotaru said.

"I don't want to go" Natsume said.

"Why? Come on, it's ok if you're Mikan's cousin…it's just the park"

"I CANT!!!" Natsume yelled. Ruka gulped.

"If you say so"

Natsume stood up and stormed back into the guestroom. He slammed the door and I could hear the door lock.

"No offense, but your cousin is kinda moody" Ruka said.

"It's his first time in Nagoya!" I said grinning.

"Anyway, so let's go to the park after school. Early this time, so it won't get dark" Ruka's voice seemed to be so faraway since I felt myself drifting once again to my thoughts.

So, you're Natsume…

You seem very troubled. Very frustrated…

I can tell…

Is there anyway I can help you?

You seem so…

Sad.

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**To be Continued… **


	3. A Walk in the Park

**Author's Note**

Chapter three is up! I hoped you liked the last chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Really appreciate it.

**Disclaimer**

When pigs start to fly, maybe I'll own Gakuen Alice…in other words…I don't own Gakuen Alice

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**Chapter Three**

A Walk in the Park

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"_Have you found him?" _

"_Yes, I have master" _

"_When do you plan to take the soul?" _

"_It's…it's not yet the right time. There are **humans **interfering" _

"_You do know what will happen if you don't complete this mission" _

"_I am aware of the consequences, master" _

"_That's good" _

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**DING DONG**

Hotaru opened the door coming to find a smiling Ruka holding the hamster cage.

"Ohayo, Imai-san" Ruka said, holding up the hamster to her face. Hotaru shuddered and let Ruka come in.

"Are your parents home?" Ruka asked, looking around the house. It had a strange frosty smell that made him think of chicken. The house also gave a sad, damp and depressing feeling that made him feel that tears are frequently shed here.

There was a long pause

"Well, they're working overseas. So, I live alone" Hotaru finally said

"Oh…I see" Ruka said, as the two of them sat down in the living room.

"Anyway, we have to get to Mikan-chan's place to pick her up"

"Oh…right…we're going to the…" Hotaru stopped for awhile as if she was thinking of what to say.

"Park" Ruka said, interrupting her thoughts. He stared at those stitches on her fingers.

"Is it your first time to go to a park?"

Hotaru smiled a bit. "Yeah…if you put it that way"

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"Ohayo Natsume-kun" I said, opening the door with a plate of fried eggs. I walked into the dark, dismal guestroom and placed the fried eggs on the table. I walked around the dark room, the futon was made and neat and the room smelled of mothballs. Had he left?

I paced around the room checking every inch of it if Natsume was there. But he wasn't. I took the plate of eggs and was going to tell jii-chan that Natsume had left.

"AAAAAHHHH!" I screamed and dropped the plate of eggs. Natsume was just right behind me, smirking at the way I reacted to his sudden appearance. I tripped and fell on my butt. I looked down embarrassed and smiled sheepishly.

Before I could say anything else, Natsume knelt down and smirked some more.

"Polka dots"

I looked at him. What was he talking about?

"Try not to show your underwear next time, idiot" he said, getting up.

"W-what?" I said to myself and looked down, my skirt was folded in such a way that my underwear was fully visible to anyone in the room. I turned red and stood up.

"YOU PERVERT NATSUME!" I yelled and attempted to step on his hand but he stood up as well.

"And I hate fried eggs as much as I hate pancakes" he said, looking at the eggs which were scrambled on the floor.

"Okay, starve! But if you drink grandpa's blood I swear I'll become a vampire slayer"

"Shut up!"

"NO, you shut up…you evil, oh – hi Ruka-pyon" I said, noticing the open door with Ruka and Hotaru staring blankly at us.

"Ohayo Mikan-chan, ohayo Natsume" Ruka said, as he and Hotaru walked into the guestroom.

"So this is where you stay, Natsume?" he said, staring at every corner of the room. "It's kinda gloomy…with all the curtains drawn and stuff..."

"I see you brought Kanashimi" I said, pointing to the black bunny Hotaru was holding. Hotaru nodded solemnly and clutched Kanashimi as if it were the most valuable thing on earth.

"Don't act like Kanashimi is some dumb stuffed toy…" Natsume said, staring at Kanashimi with a disgusting look plastered on his face.

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing" Natsume said and turned his back. "Leave me alone"

"Natsume, you can come with us if you like you know"

"I'd rather eat a defrosted chicken than go to the stupid park"

"What's so bad about defrosted chickens??"

Hotaru gave Natsume a **_I'm-going-to-tell _**look.

"It's hell" Natsume said.

"Now leave me alone" he said and pushed us out.

"Is your cousin on drugs?" Ruka laughed as the three of us were pushed into the hallway.

"No. He's just on blo---oh nothing"

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The sun gleamed brightly as we stared at the beautiful blue sky. Hotaru stared at the picnickers, bikers, families, lovers, birds and the colorful flowers as if she had never seen something like it. It was the middle of spring so everything seemed so perfect. The flowers were in full bloom, displaying their vivid colors and the butterflies flying tiredly around their flower, as if guarding its beauty.

Colorful mats were spread on the floor with families and lovers eating to their satisfaction. Children ran around squealing, some with flowers in their hair and some with worms wriggling in between their fingers. Hotaru watched as if she had never watched life move about before.

"Hotaru-chan, daijobou?" I asked, waving a hand in front of her face. She had been staring for so long that she looked like a mannequin.

Hotaru blinked and nodded. The three of us went to a quieter place in the park and sat down.

"I brought sandwiches!" Ruka said proudly and took out three gigantic sandwiches out of his bag.

I got one and looked at it lovingly. I didn't have breakfast because Natsume wasted my time and I was famished.

Hotaru watched me take a bite.

"God, you look hungry!" I laughed and got the third sandwich from Ruka. "Here" I said. She stared at it sadly and shook her head.

"I don't eat that much" she whispered softly and looked down. "Let's do our project"

Ruka took out our hamster from the cage. It wriggled about as he held it up. Brown with black beady eyes, it was the most adorable thing in the world.

"Wait I'll get my notebook" he said, putting down the hamster and reaching for his bag. "Hotaru-chan, watch the hamster, will you?"

Hotaru didn't hear this, and with a blink of an eye – the hamster dashed out of Ruka's lap and ran downhill.

"OH MY GOD!! THE HAMSTER!!" I screeched and stood up to run after it. Hotaru took my arm and shook her head.

"Just a minute" she said and went behind the tree. Hotaru took out Kanashimi and pushed a pin further into it's back. "Come back" she whispered.

"HEY! HAMSTER IS BACK!" I said, running to Hotaru. "It's so funny…I mean, he just came running up again!!" I laughed and sat back down.

"Imai-san…isn't that your stuffed rabbit Kanashimi? What is it doing here?"

"Nothing" Hotaru replied emotionlessly and put Kanashimi back into her bag.

"Okay, so Mikan – can you take note of the hamster's behavior around this environment?" Ruka said, handing me a clipboard. I nodded and took out my pen.

"Hotaru-chan, you hold the hamster" Ruka said, giving Hotaru the hamster.

"I don't want to hold this repulsive creature!" Hotaru said, staring at the hamster disgustingly.

"Imai-san, onegai" Ruka said, holding up the hamster. Hotaru rolled her eyes and took it. She stared at it for awhile. Its black beady eyes seemed to just say _i'm-so-cute-and-so-fuzzy _ - it wriggled around her fingers, trying helplessly to escape from Hotaru's grasp.

"You're holding it too tight," Ruka remarked.

"Here I'll help you" he said, taking Hotaru's hands and putting them around the hamster. Hotaru turned slight pink and slowly stroked the hamster. Ruka smiled and stroked it as well. Then he noticed that his hands were still holding Hotaru's.

"Gomen" he said, quickly withdrawing his hands and turning away.

Hotaru was so engrossed with the hamster's cuteness that she didn't even respond. All of a sudden, she felt a piercing pain in her head. She threw the hamster at Ruka and then the pain ceased.

"Imai-san, what has gotten into you?" he asked, putting the hamster back into the cage.

"Nothing" Hotaru said, shaking her head. She looked at the hamster sadly and sighed. She stared down at her hands and noticed one of her stitches in her fingers slowly faded. She stared at the stitch-less finger in wonder. _What? _

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Hotaru and Ruka brought me home afterwards. Grandpa called me saying that he won't be home dinner because he has some errands to run. So it's just me and that…**vampire**…

"I'M HOME!" I yelled, throwing my bag on the floor and removing my shoes. I got my bag again and went to the living room where I found a bored looking vampire watching television.

"You're dumb shows are disgusting" he said. He was watching a sitcom on television. What was so disgusting about it? It was funny!

"Yeah, yeah! Whatever" I said, sticking out my tongue. I opened my bag and got my stuff. Cell phone, wallet, handkerchief, mirror, brush, lip balm, extra hair tie, cologne, my pencil case…wait…something was missing.

I put my bag upside down and shook it. Nothing else came out except a candy wrapper. I stared at it in horror**. I FORGOT ONE OF THE EXPERIMENT SHEETS** for the hamster experiment **IN THE PARK**!!!!

I can just photocopy Ruka or Hotaru's sheets but then Mr. Misaki will notice it and reprimand me in front of class which is VERY humiliating.

I can just ask Mr. Misaki for another sheet but then that would be on Monday when our experiment is due!!!

That's it…I have to get it back at the park. I looked outside, the sun was about to set any time and I hated going home alone. What if…a man robs me or harasses me? Scary and disturbing thoughts raced my head, and then suddenly – I realized there was a very sensible solution.

"Natsume-kun…is it okay with you if you go with me to the park…because I have to get…"

"No. Not ever."

"WHY?! You didn't even listen to my reason!! Why don't you want to go to the park anyway? There's nothing scary awaiting you there!!! Please come with me!!" I said. I really wanted to cry now. My grade in Science was extremely low and I wanted to pull it up with this project.

Natsume looked out the window _"I'm safe right?" _he asked himself.

"What? What did you say?"

"None of your business!" he yelled.

"Natsume-kun, onegai!!" I said, batting my eyelashes.

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"Damn you…" Natsume said, as the two of us walked to the park. The sky was painted in pretty orangey colors with a dab of pink at the top. I smiled helplessly and we reached the park. There were less people now, some were just dog-walkers and bikers.

"Thanks for coming with me…" I said, smiling.

Natsume just looked away.

"YES! I found it!!" I screeched and ran to where our spot was, the experiment sheet was still there under a rock which was acting like a paperweight. I thanked the Lord as I got the paper and shook the soil off it.

The two of us stared at each other for awhile and I grinned. "Hey, if you're a vampire…how come you're not burning? I mean…the sun has not set yet and…"

Natsume stared at his hands. _"Not burning…" _he whispered. Then he looked at me as if I said something right and looked down.

"You idiot" he laughed.

"Shut up!" I yelled, throwing a rock at him.

"Idiot with polka dotted panties!!"

"Do you want me to stone you to death?" I said, collecting more rocks in my hand and throwing at him. He dodged them skillfully and walked away.

"GET BACK HERE!!!"

_Natsume-kun, why do you hide from the outside world? _

_It's not like someone's out to get something valuable from you, right? _

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**To be continued **


	4. Cousin Permy!

**Author's Note**

Thank you to the people who reviewed Chapter Four: honey kun, littledoggy, alf05, Natsumesama, Royal Goddess, Ju-YanSumeEngel, kawaii-yan, glenda23. Oh, and if you're wondering – I got the idea of writing this story from a movie called "Interview With the Vampire".

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**Chapter Five**

Cousin Permy!!!

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'_Natsume, you can run – but remember we're watching…' _

'_What the hell are you talking about?!" _

'_Natsume-kun, even though you hide from us – we're still going to find you. We're going to rob you of what you're trying to hide from us…remember Natsume, we're everywhere…"_

"_SHUT UP!!!" _

"_We're everywhere Natsume. We're here, we're there…there's no escape from us. We're going to make you a pure vampire…" _

"_GO AWAY!!!" _

"_You can tell that to us now but remember…" _

"_We can decide to kill you any moment" _

The raven haired boy sat up from his futon. His pillows were scattered everywhere and his pillow was practically drenched with cold sweat. His heart raced as he stood up and recalled that horrible nightmare. He wiped his forehead and gave a slight cough. _We can decide to kill you any moment… _he shook his head and put his fingers on his temples. Oh God, that was one hell of a nightmare.

He opened the door and walked to the bathroom. He opened the sink and washed his face, hoping to wash away his nervousness and fear. He wiped his face and turned around. There, was an infuriated Mikan.

She sat in the bath tub, staring at him angrily. Everything except her face was covered in bubbles. But even though she was completely concealed, she was definitely angry. Her face was red with embarrassment and he could already feel her making a fist.

Without standing up, she took a soap bar and threw at Natsume. **"YOU PERVERT, NATSUME!!! I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!!!" **

The soap bar fell on the floor and Natsume slipped on it carelessly (he wasn't that much aware of his surroundings because he wasn't able to get that much sleep last night). He fell backwards and hit the door.

"JEEZ. Shut the hell up! It's not my fault that you didn't lock the door!!"

"WELL TRY KNOCKING NEXT TIME, YOU DIRTY-MINDED PERVERT!!!!" She shrieked.

"GOD! YOU PISS ME OFF SO MUCH THAT I WANT TO -----"

Before Natsume could continue, the door swung open. It hit Natsume's head and he hit himself on the hard, bathroom wall.

The two of us looked up who opened the door. A short, black-haired girl with wavy hair and emerald colored eyes barged into the bathroom and went in front of the sink and admired her face for awhile. Ugh. Cousin Permy!!!!

Well, her name isn't Permy anyway (I call her Permy because she hates her hard-to-manage hair and she calls me Stupid-Face because according to her, I look like I'm a mistake of nature and so she christened me with that dumb name). We're cousins on my dad's side and when we first met each other during a family reunion, we've been mortal enemies ever since.

I mean, she's the only person in the world who put sand in my spaghetti

The only person who put clay in my fish aquarium (which is the main reason why my fish died)

And the only person who calls me Stupid-Face!

She lives in Tokyo but sometimes she comes her to Nagoya to visit grandpa and me. I get so pissed off whenever she brags about the expensive clothes, jewelry, shoes and other things she bought in Tokyo. I haven't been to the city so I don't know what she's talking about. She's always like "Oh dear! Tokyo is way better than Nagoya – but you can't really help it for being the only orphan in our family, can you? I guess you'll end up just a farm girl while I hit the night clubs and such…" UGH! SHE'S SO ANNOYING!!!!

"Stupid-Face, can I borrow some moisturizer? If you have one…do they even have moisturizers in Nagoya?"

"What are you doing here, Permy?" I asked, my eyes twitching at her rudeness. She didn't even say a decent hello!

"Oh you know, I got bored with my wonderful life in big-city Tokyo so I took a break and thought to myself, hmm? Why don't I go to Nagoya and visit grandpa and Mikan? Poor relatives…they don't even get the best out of life…"

"You're unbelievable!" I yelled.

"I'm afraid it's true" Sumire replied, as she ran her fingers through her curly hair. "Anyway, do you have moisturizer? My face is getting dry with this…provincial air…"

"Of course I have moisturizer…it's over by that cabinet over there…" I said, changing the topic and pointing to a cabinet. Natsume was sitting over there, with a bloody nose.

"Sure! Is it lavender flavored because you know I'D DIE if it was citrus or something like that…" Sumire said, walking to the cabinet, she noticed Natsume sitting on the floor wiping his bloody nose. She looked at him for awhile and looked at me.

"Stupid-face…who…is…this…"

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After taking a shower, I went out to have breakfast. Grandpa, Hotaru and Ruka were there helping themselves to pancakes (well, Hotaru-chan wasn't) while watching a game show on TV.

"THE ANSWER IS **_Photosynthesis, _**stupid!!!" Ruka said to the television. He turned to me and smiled "Ohayo, Mikan-chan" he said and stuffed a pancake into his mouth. "We're watching this game show where all the contestants are so stupid!!"

"We are quite aware of that, Ruka" Hotaru remarked and continued watching the game show.

"Why are you guys here?" I asked, sitting down with them.

"We have to write a report together...didn't I tell that to you yesterday?"

"No"

"Well then, gomen but then this also is included in our project so…"

"Okay" I said, and took a pancake.

Natsume and Sumire came walking from the bathroom. Sumire was dabbing a piece of cotton on his bloody nose and laughing. What the hell? This SO wasn't like her.

"I told you…I can take care of myself!!!" Natsume said, pushing Sumire away as the two of them sat down.

"But…it might get an infection…" Sumire said, going closer to Natsume and dabbing the cotton again.

"It's not serious!!" Natsume said, glaring at Sumire.

Sumire laughed and turned to me. "He's adorable!" she muttered. I rolled my eyes. What a **_suck-up_**.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

"Hyuuga Natsume" he replied, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, friend of yours – Mikan?" Sumire said, looking at me.

"Yeah…friend…"

"I thought he was your cousin" Ruka said.

OH NO.

"Ummm…yeah…he's my cousin…in my…um…dad's side…"

"But I'm in your dad's side!" Sumire said, raising an eyebrow.

I shook my head "OhyeahImeantmomsside!" I said quickly and looked down.

"But wasn't he…" Grandpa said slowly, and I put my hand on his lips before he could say anything more.

"Grandpa, don't you have some…stuff…to attend to?" I asked. Please let there be something to attend to!! Please!! Please!!!

"Oh? I do? Wait…let me check my organizer!" he said, stood up and went to his room.

That was close.

"So Natsume-kun, do you come to Mikan's house often?" Sumire asked, turning to Natsume and giggling like some fan-girl.

Natsume just raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I mean, I come here every year to check how things are doing…you know…family stuff!"

"Yeah, you also come here to pay you father's debts!" I blurted out.

"Oh shut up, Stupid-Face!" she yelled.

I did. I didn't know what to say after all.

"Natsume-kun, tell me more about yourself!" she said, becoming all lovey-dovey once more.

Oh man, this is going to be a LONGGGGG DAYYYYY.

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The day seemed long. I spent the whole day with Ruka and Hotaru, trying to write a decent report but we couldn't concentrate due to the continuous blabbing of my dumb cousin Permy!!! We tried to do our report in our room but then we couldn't because we could hear Permy's ecstatic voice and Natsume's bored and irritated voice.

**3:00 pm**. The talking finally ceased.

"Hey guys, I've got to go now" Hotaru said, standing up after we came up with 2 pages of our report (the report has to be 6 pages, mind you)

"Okay. Bye!!" I said waving my hand. Hotaru took her bag and left the room.

"_Hotaru-chan, have you obtained the soul?" _

"_Not yet, master. I'm trying. But these dumb humans are getting in the way…" _

"_Remember one of the functions of your guardian…" _

"_Oh, I remember" _

"_Get on with it" _

**7:00 pm**.

"Bye, Mikan!" Ruka said, as we finally finished 5 pages of the report. I waved goodbye and closed the door. I was so exhausted. Natsume and Sumire were watching some movie on TV and Sumire was just blabbing about the plot and the characters and how Natsume liked it and stuff. Natsume just kept on nodding and rolling his eyes.

I sat down beside the two of them.

"Do you mind? We're trying to watch a movie here…"

"I'm sorry, it doesn't look like you are – considering the fact that you just keep on talking!"

Sumire just grunted. Then she looked out the glass sliding door leading to the garden outside for quite awhile.

"What?" I said, noticing that she had been staring at it for awhile.

"Nothing…. I just thought I saw some rabbit ears outside…" she laughed and continued talking to Natsume.

"Be right back, I'll just go to the bathroom!" she said standing up.

Sumire went to the bathroom and checked if she had anything between her teeth (you see, she had been eating popcorn and she didn't want Natsume to see anything in her mouth BESIDES teeth). She decided to wash her face.

_Splash…splash… _

Sumire looked for a towel to wipe her face on. All of a sudden, she saw a caped girl sitting on the cabinet holding a black creature.

"Who are you?" Sumire inquired.

"Nobody" the girl said, standing up.

Sumire stared at the girl from head to toe. "You're not one of Mikan's friends are you?"

The girl just looked at her.

"Keep quiet" she finally said, she took a pin from the black creature. The pin glowed as she removed it, when it finally stopped glowing, the pin became black.

"What are you planning to do with that? Embroidery?" Sumire asked, pointing to the black pin.

"No" the girl responded and pierced the pin on her chest.

Sumire stared at the pin in horror and she started going through convulsions. Finally, Sumire collapsed on the ground and started coughing. Sweat trickled down her head as she stood up as the evil girl watched Sumire's eyes shut and then open again, revealing dark red eyes.

The girl jumped out of the bathroom window and the black creature followed her.

Sumire trudged out of the bathroom and into the kitchen.

"Permy, can you get me something to drink?" I said, seeing my cousin walk towards the refrigerator.

"Okay" she said, but went straight for the cupboard.

Natsume and I watched her take out a pan.

"Oh, that's okay… I'm going to cook dinner!" I said, standing up. "You don't have to…"

Sumire looked up and grinned sinisterly. "Oh, no…I insist!" she said

"W-what?"

Natsume stood up.

"I'm going to cook dinner!" Sumire squealed and help up the pan as if it were a baseball bat.

"Permy, are you feeling okay?"

Without a word, Sumire attempted to hit me with the frying pan.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" I yelled.

Sumire cackled and started chasing us around the house with the frying pan.

"PERMY, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" I yelled, running around the house. Where was grandpa?!

"I have to eliminate the ones interfering!" she said softly. I was cornered in the hallway as she neared me.

"I cannot fulfill my mission with you around, can I?" Wait…that voice sounded like…

Sumire attempted to hit me again. But this time, I didn't feel a brush against my face.

"Natsume-kun?" I said, looking at the vampire who was blocking the pan from hitting me.

"I'm not protecting you, if that's what you think…" he said. Sumire hit him and blood trickled down his nose. He kicked Sumire and she stumbled back.

"Don't…don't hurt her!" I said, running to Sumire.

"WHAT ARE YOU, STUPID?" Natsume yelled.

Permy put her foot out and I tripped on the floor. She started cackling again. I took a throw pillow and used it as my shield.

"Sumire…get a hold of yourself!!" I yelled, as she swung the pan like a mad psycho.

The pan hit me on the leg and I fell on the ground, my leg throbbing with pain. Didn't know pans hurt…

Natsume pushed Sumire down and took the pan from her grasp. Sumire was pinned to the ground by Natsume and was kicking and flailing her arms helplessly.

Natsume took a hold of her collar and withdrew something from her chest. It looked like a pin.

Sumire fell on the ground unconscious.

The pin disintegrated.

"_He is skilled" _

"_Yes. Very – it seems we have misinterpreted his power" _

"_I shall try harder next time master" _

"_You know the consequences if you don't fulfill your mission" _

_Pause. _

"_Yes, I know" _

The pin came into view into one of the people talking. She inserted the pin on the black creature again and sighed.

"_There's always tomorrow" _

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"Permy…Permy…daijobou?" I asked.

Permy opened her eyes. I clapped my hands and sighed with relief.

"Thank God..."

She sat up from her futon and looked around (you see, she sleeps in my room whenever she stays here).

"W-what happened? Oh my gawd, Natsume!! You're nose is all bloody again…here I'll treat it!" she said, standing up.

"Don't!" Natsume yelled

"No, I insist!" she said and pushed Natsume out the door, she was halfway out when she turned to me.

"I'll be here for quite sometime. I have something new to win!"

"And what is that?" I asked, folding my arms.

"Natsume-kun. Hell, you're interested in him…even though he's your…cousin "she grinned.

"I…I'm not interested in him!" I protested.

"Ah, whatever. You may have one last year's bet on who eats the most cookies…but I'm winning this time!"

"Sure, sure!" I said, grinning.

Permy smiled and went out the door. I could hear her fussing over Natsume again.

Permy that annoying girl.

I looked out the window and sighed.

That voice Permy had awhile ago…

I swear it belonged to someone I know…

I just cant make it out…

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**To be continued…**

**Oh by the way, would you like a: RukaxMikanxNatsume pairing?! Like, Mikan will like Ruka for awhile and stuff…please include it in your review, Arigatou minna-san! **


	5. Leaf Through the Pages

**Author's Note**

Thank you to…

**Defrosted Chicken Hater **

Really? Thank you!! Haha. See you in school!

**lysabelle**

Thanks so much!! Glad you liked it!!!

**The Cool Kid and Nameless One**

Thanks for reviewing

**Xian-Pyon**

Thanks for reviewing! Oh, don't worry I won't put Permy that often. Just in some chapters.

**Cutegabrielle16**

Thanks for reviewing, Gabby!!! Glad you liked it

**JigokuOtakuShoujo**

Thanks so much!!!! Glad you liked it!!

**Typh **

Thanks so much!! Glad you liked it!!!!

**Meny-Chan**

Thanks for reviewing. Glad you liked it. And sure, maybe I'll put the one you suggested in one of my chapters.

**Glenda23 **

Tsubasa? Um, I haven't decided on that yet. I'll probably put him in one my chapters. Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it!

_Note: _Oops. **_There was a typo in the last chapter. I wrote "Chapter Five, when it was Chapter four. Gomenasai, everybody…hope there was no confusion or anything! _**

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**Chapter Five**

Leaf Through the Pages

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"_Master, do I…do I have a soul?" _

"_Souls are just a state of mind. Nobody has souls…the thought of having a soul makes living more difficult" _

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"Mikan? Mikan?"

I shook my head and faced grandpa who was looking at me sympathetically.

"Yes jii-chan?" I said softly.

"Daijobu? You've been acting spaced out since last night…"

Oh grandpa, I do wish I could tell you. But you would never understand what happened last night. You would never grasp the fact that Permy was chasing Natsume and I with a frying pan and Natsume is a vampire. I hate keeping secrets from you but then…

"Mikan? Mikan?"

I shook my head again. "Yes, jii-chan?"

"You'll be late for school…"

"Oh yeah!!" I said, standing up and grabbing my bag. "Bye, Jii-chan!" I said, kissing grandpa on the cheek and running out the door.

I put on my school shoes and ran out of the house. The day was perfect. The sun shone brightly, the sky was as blue as ever and the wind blew on my face. It was such a nice spring day. The marigolds and lavender were in blue and so pretty to look at, when I bumped into somebody.

"Gomen…oh, ohayo Hotaru-chan!" I said, picking myself up. Hotaru just raised her eyebrow and continued walking.

"You seem tired today, Hotaru" I said, scrutinizing her face expression. It was the same as always, emotionless and cool but then she seemed more exhausted than she was yesterday. Standing beside her gave me a chilly feeling and her face seemed paler in comparison to the rest of the days (I know that she's always pale, but then now…her face was white as a sheet). Her fingers quivered as she walked and she seemed to pant every time she breathed.

"It's nothing" Hotaru responded. Hotaru-chan seems to be hiding lots of secrets from everyday. And the way she looked at people, it seemed that she never considered anyone trustworthy. It was heart-wrenching and I didn't know why.

All of a sudden, it occurred to me that her voice sounded like Permy's voice when Permy was 'possessed' the other day. I stared at her and she looked back at me.

"What?" she asked, with a tone of annoyance.

"Hotaru-chan…" I said. Should I ask her if she was involved in yesterday's incident in any way?

"What?"

I shook my head. No, it's impossible.

"Nothing"

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_**Supernatural Beings and You**_

_Vampires, giants, fairies and more_!

"Cool, right?"

I sweatdropped.

"You're really into these kinds of stuff" I said, holding up the dusty book so I could see it's engraved letters in the light. It was a thick brown book with yellow crispy pages that smelled of termites. I leafed through the disintegrating pages and it showed gory photographs of scary vampires and other creatures.

"Yeah. I just borrowed this book from the library and I'm done with half of it…do you want to know about the…"

"No thanks, Ruka-pyon – I sleep alone and I don't want to be sleep deprived"

"OHAYO!!!" Someone yelled from the door before Ruka could reply. The two of us turned around and saw our class president, Tobita Yuu.

Tobita Yuu or whom we call "Iinchou" because he's our class president is the smartest person in class. He has curly mustard colored hair and oval shaped glasses. He's very intelligent and competes in competitions for Math (usually for Calculus, Trigonometry and Algebra) and has memorized all the bones of the human body. He also reads a lot. He reads more than Ruka and has finished half of the library.

"Ohayo" Ruka and I said. Yuu went to us and looked at Ruka's book.

"_Supernatural Beings and You – _oh I've read this twice, make sure you read the part about pixies- its very interesting…"

He took out a book from his bag which was far more thicker than Ruka's book and the pages were much more yellowish.

**_The Life and Times of Every Famous Scientist Known_**

"I'm already in the Einstein section" he said proudly.

"Hey, you want to go to the library later?" Ruka asked.

"Yeah sure!"

"Hotaru-chan, do you want to go too?"

Hotaru looked at the three of us in disgust.

"Fine. I have to do my research paper anyway"

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After school, the four of us walked to the school library. It was a very nice library. It smelled of air con, old books and the expensive cologne of the librarian. The library was unusually dim today, only a bit of sunlight peeked through the skylight and it was surprising because the library was on the top floor and sunset hadn't begun yet.

There were very little people in the library today. The soft sound of the librarian's stereo was the only thing that could be heard besides the sound of the leafing of pages.

"These books look so complicated" I said, staring at a shelf filled with thick books that looked like it was filled with difficult words that were often mispronounced.

"I want to go to the Fantasy section" Ruka said, with his eyes gleaming.

"To check more about vampires?" I asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah…how did you know?"

"Ugh. It's obvious" I laughed.

"Iinchou, Ruka and I will to the Fantasy section – okay?"

"Yeah. Sure – go ahead. I'll follow!" Yuu replied and beckoned us to leave. Ruka and I went to the Fantasy Section to check more on vampires.

"Hotaru-chan! Hotaru-chan!" I whispered. Hotaru looked up from her notebooks.

"What is it?" she whispered back. She was doing her research paper.

"Ruka-pyon and I will just be browsing on vampires, okay?"

Hotaru nodded and looked down at her research material once more.

"Mikan-chan! Look, it's another book on vampires!"

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**It shall begin now. **

"What? What was that?" Yuu said, looking up from his book. There was nobody there. The library was extremely dark, only the stars served as the light. Yuu looked around nervously and put down the book.

"Ruka-kun?! Mikan-chan!? I think I'll go ahead now!" he yelled.

No response.

Yuu turned around and saw a dark-haired girl sitting on one of the bookshelves. She wore a long black satin dress paired with black leather boots and had a cape hanging from her back. She stroked a sinister looking creature in her hands and examined Ruka's face carefully.

"Who are you?" Yuu demanded.

The girl just looked at him.

"There is no significance of who I am" she replied, she stood up and jumped down to the floor. Yuu was too frightened to move.

Yuu felt like he was pinned to the ground.

The girl took out a pin from the creature who shuddered malevolently. The pin glowed and a black liquid filled it up. It glowed for awhile and finally settled into its black color.

"You like reading right?" the girl asked. Yuu simply nodded.

"Here's a new hobby" she continued and pierced the pin on his chest. Yuu's eyes darkened and he collapsed on the floor.

"Kill the one who seems to be interfering with our plans"

Yuu stood up like a robot and nodded.

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"Ruka-pyon, it's getting late – I think we better get going!" I said. Ruka closed the book and nodded. The two of us headed out of the library. Apparently, the librarian wasn't there anymore. It was just the two of us. All of a sudden, the door slammed shut.

Ruka turned the door knob, then the door knob dissolved and Ruka looked at me.

"We're stuck!"

"OHMYGOD!" I screeched. I hated staying at school late. I looked at the peephole in the door and it was just pitch black.

"What's happening Ruka?" I asked.

"I don't know" he replied nervously and stared at the door.

All of a sudden, a thousand books came crashing in our way. Ruka and I ran and the books banged on the door and fell.

I stared at the books in horror and Yuu came walking to us. "Careful, you might get a paper cut"

"Yuu? Daijobou?" I said, walking up to Yuu. More books came crashing towards us. Ruka and I dodged it and it hit the wall and fell.

This totally reminded me of yesterday evening.

Ruka stared at the darkness for awhile and ran into it. I was left alone.

"Ruka-pyon!!!" I yelled. Only the echoes of his distant footsteps could be heard.

More books came crashing and I ducked.

All of a sudden, something came crashing down the skylight. It was…

"NATSUME-KUN!" I yelled. Natsume kicked all of the books out in one go and ran to Yuu. I just watched like an innocent bystander.

Natsume removed something out of Yuu's chest and Yuu's face paled and he collapsed on the floor.

"Natsume-kun, how did you know…" I asked, watching the room illuminating again.

"Intuition" Natsume replied and Ruka came running.

"Hey, Mikan-chan…seems like things have gone back to normal…oh, hey Natsume!"

Natsume just nodded.

The sun was beginning to set.

Where was Hotaru-chan?

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_**I went home early**_

I stared at Hotaru's text and deleted it. I shut off my phone and looked at Yuu.

"Will you be alright?"

"Hai…what happened at the library?"

"Nothing…" I said.

"Hey, Mikan-chan look at this!" Ruka said, showing me a page of his book.

_**Some vampires are known to possess human beings in order to obtain their soul. **_

"Never heard of this one…hey, Natsume look!"

That was very strange…

Each day…

A secret is revealed.

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**Weee!! Full of mystery!! Haha. Um, there will be MxN moments and HxR moments starting next page!!! See you next chapter! **


	6. The Mischief of Tarot Cards

**Thank you to: **

_SnowCharms_

Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it! And…I'm going to make MxN moments.

_**Littledoggy**_

Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it!!! And yes, I promise there will be much romance.

_**Xian-pyon **_

Haha. Kilig. Thanks for reviewing!! Glad you liked it!

_lysabelle _

Thank you! And, there will be lots of secrets to be revealed in the next chapters!

_JigokuOtakuShoujo _

Sorry for the short chapter! Haha! I'll try to make it long!! Thanks for reviewing, glad you liked it!

_Sarafnya-chan_

Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it! Oh, and thanks for reviewing the rest of my stories.

BTW, The highlighted ones are my good friends. Arigatou!

_**Where's your soul now? **_

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**Chapter VI**

The Mischief of Tarot Cards

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**Some vampires are known to possess human beings in order to obtain their soul. **

I lay motionless on my bed, staring at the blank ceiling. That sentence had been bothering me ever since. It was nerve-wracking. The more I remembered it, the more I felt my heart race. It was the kind of feeling you would get when someone or rather something is following you.

And the worse thing about it, is that Natsume is a vampire – himself.

Could he have the power to possess human beings? Is he responsible for all the incidents that happened? Like Iinchou and Permy for instance? Am I not safe anymore? Will he be continuing this hell until he decides to leave?

"Mikan! Get up! Attend to Natsume before you leave for school!" a muffled voice behind the door demanded. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I hadn't gotten enough sleep yet.

"OUCH!" Sumire yowled, when I stepped on her chest. Yeah, when she's in Nagoya she sleeps in my room – using the pull-up bed that's under mine.

"Gomen!" I said and jumped out. I walked to the door and went to the kitchen to make pancakes. I took out the pancake mix from the cupboard and started reading the instructions.

"Oi,baka!" an annoying voice said, putting his hand on my head and messing it up so bad that soon enough – my face was covered with my hazelnut colored hair.

"Must you piss me off at this time of the day?" I asked, moving away from him and opening the pancake mix.

"Freak" he said.

"Moron" I retorted, rolling my eyes and pouring the pancake mix in a bowl.

As I took some eggs out of the refrigerator, I noticed Natsume flinched a bit. He made a fist and inserted his hand in his pocket. He shut his eyes, as if avoiding something painful and slowly walked back to the guest room.

"Natsume-kun, daijobou?" I said, looking at him. Natsume stopped walking, hesitated and nodded slowly. He withdrew his hand from his pocket and I noticed something blackish red trickling down his fingers.

Was that…

Was that blood?

After making the pancakes, I went to the guestroom to bring his breakfast (Okay, I know he hates pancakes but then at least I TRIED giving him breakfast). I opened the door and looked at him, he was staring out the window with his lost auburn eyes…his face looked as if it was yearning to get something back. Something that was entitled to him…something that was precious.

"Natsume-kun…breakfast" I said and placed the tray of pancakes on the table. He glared at me and I saw, two of his hands now were bleeding. His fingers looked as if they were cut with a knife and blood was trickling down profusely.

"Natsume!" I said and grabbed two of his hands. He tried to pull them back, but I refused to let go. I fell on him and I examined his hands carefully. His fingers had stopped bleeding and the only things that were there were blisters and healed cuts. It was like nothing ever touched him…

"I swear I saw blood" I whispered.

"Get off me!" Natsume yelled. I realized that we were in an awkward position and sat up immediately.

"Gomenasai" I said, my face painted red.

"Baka" he said, rolling his eyes.

I couldn't stop blushing and I had no idea why. I backed away and touched the door knob. No…this wasn't the feeling of love…it was sadness, anger and regret. I had no idea why I felt this but then I had a biting feeling that Natsume-kun felt that too. But I was scared…I was scared that he would possess me…like what that book said…

"Your breakfast is here!" I screamed and ran out of the guest room.

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"IMAI-SAN!! STOP IT!!" Ruka yelled, running around the classroom like a rabbit being chased by a fox. He bumped into me and I fell on my butt on the floor. I had just arrived in the classroom and I came to find my two friends chasing each other like preschoolers.

"Ohayo, Mikan-chan!" Ruka said, standing up and glaring at Hotaru. "You're terrible!" he yelled.

"Ohayo, Ruka-pyon and Hotaru-chan…um…what seems to be the matter?" I asked, walking to my table and fixing my school supplies. Ruka and Hotaru followed me.

"This blackmailer has been taking candid photographs of everyone…especially me!!" Ruka cried, his tone was the type of tone that a one year old would have when talking to his mother about his naughty brother.

I looked at Hotaru who was staring at us emotionlessly. She was clutching a vintage black camera with splotches of red stuff on it. It looked like Tabasco but I wasn't sure. The camera looked _dead. _I don't know how cameras can look 'dead' but it did. It looked like it had belonged to some old photographer in the olden days. And most of all, it looked as sad as her.

Like camera, like owner.

All of a sudden, a red card started flying towards me. I dodged it and it fell on the ground. I picked it up and it had the picture of the moon and a fairy on it. The fairy was sitting on the moon with a wand on her hand.

"Ohayo!" someone said and picked up the card. It was my classmate Kokoroyomi.

**KOKO**

Light haired, misty-eyed and strange Koko. He's pretty much like Ruka. He's unusually interested in the paranormal world. He's different too. He won the Science Fair last year for the most unusual prize. And on Halloween he went as a potato salad. He's very peculiar. He's one of the people who you'd like to stare at all day, wondering where the heck he came from. I examine him sometimes and think to myself "What the hell?".

"Current obsession: **_tarot cards" _**he declared to Ruka, Hotaru and I.

"Tarot cards?" the three of us said in unison.

Kokoroyomi took the card and shuffled it with others. He started flipping them one by one and then turning them back to their original position. He shuffled them violently and threw them at a certain spot and picked them up again. It was a weird way of shuffling.

"Tarot cards… They can tell your future"

"Want me to give you a reading?" he said.

"Sure!" I replied. The four of us sat down on the floor. Kokoroyomi started shuffling them again. Then he took out ten cards and lay them on the floor facing down.

"Pick one" he told us. The three of us nodded. I took one. Ruka took one and Hotaru took one.

"Let's see yours!" he told me. I turned mine over. The card was blank. Kokoroyomi picked it up and stared at it.

"That's weird…" he said. "I have memorized all the cards and I haven't seen a card like this…anyway, let's see yours Ruka!"

Ruka flipped his over. It was the picture of a white rabbit.

"Oh!! You got Usagi!"

"Usagi?"

"Yeah!! The Usagi card means that you will have a new companion that will stay with you for quite sometime!"

Ruka wondered about this.

"How about yours, Hotaru-chan?"

Hotaru rolled her eyes and flipped her card. It was the picture of a girl sitting on a chair in a black room. She was crying and there were black wings on her back.

"You got Kuro-chan"

"Kuro? Doesn't that mean 'Dark'?" I said, taking the card.

"Yeah! It means that you will either lose something you care about, want something forbidden and probably need someone more than anything in the world even though it kills you"

"God, it sounds tragic"

Hotaru whipped the card at Kokoroyomi.

"This is stupid" she said and rubbed her eyes. "I never want to get a tarot card reading again" she said and stood up.

"Don't get mad, Hotaru! It's the cards not the reader"

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**You've got a pretty soul. **

**It shall begin now. **

"Kokoroyomi" a voice whispered. Kokoroyomi turned his back. It was dismissal time, the sun was setting and the nocturnal birds were slowly coming out. A dark haired girl with sinister eyes approached him. She wore a satin gown paired with a black velvet cape. She was stroking a deformed animal who was nuzzling on her arm.

"Who are you?" Kokoroyomi asked.

The girl didn't say a word, she took a pin from the animal who flinched as she did and pierced it on his chest.

"I order you to kill."

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_Ding! Dong! _

"I'll get it!!" I said, running to the door. Natsume and I were the only ones in the house again. Grandpa was out doing some errands and Sumire was settling her father's debts with some of his drug-dealer and casino-owner friends. Natsume was in his room, silent as ever and I was busy cooking fish.

When I opened the door, no one was there but a card which was lying on the doormat. I assumed that it was just some immature joker who found amusement in ringing peoples' doors. I closed the door again and found a path of cars lying carelessly on the floor.

I went to the kitchen and found Kokoroyomi sitting on the table.

"Koko…" I said, and before I knew it – he clasped his hands on my throat and stared at me with a deathly expression pasted on his face.

"Daijobou?!" I yelled. Kokoroyomi threw me backwards and I tumbled down the floor and hit my head on the counter. Blood trickled down my nose and I wiped it. Oh no, this was one of those…'incidents'. I rolled on the floor and grabbed a ladle as my weapon. Okay, it may seem pathetic but at least I had a line of defense.

Koko placed the end of the card on my neck, I could feel it dig into my skin as I lost breath… but no…

Thoughts of Natsume sinisterly plotting evil plans away came to my head and I got up and slapped Kokoroyomi.

"GET OUT!" I screeched and hit him with the ladle. Koko tumbled down and stood up again. He took out several cards and whipped it at me. I ducked and saw something stick out of his chest.

I was about to run and pull it out when Natsume came and pulled it out. Kokoroyomi fell on the floor unconscious (like the rest of the people) and I glared at Natsume.

"W-what…w-what are you doing?!" I said, wiping blood out of my nose. I noticed that Natsume was bleeding again and he quickly concealed his hands by putting them back in his pockets.

**Some vampires are known to possess human beings in order to obtain their soul. **

I took Koko and carried him to my room to attend to him.

"Mikan? Mikan-chan?!" Koko said, waking up after an hour.

"Yeah. How are you?"

"Fine…"

"Hey I'll get you some water!" I said and stood up and walked to the kitchen.

Natsume entered the room and sat beside Kokoroyomi.

"Hey, who are you?"

"Mikan's cousin" Natsume responded.

"Oh I see…"

"Hey, what's this?" Natsume asked, taking the tarot cards which were beside Koko.

"Oh, those are my tarot cards….you want me to give you a reading? I'm pretty good at it"

Natsume just shrugged.

Koko sat up and shuffled the deck and laid ten cards on the floor.

"Pick one!"

Natsume took the third to the last one. It was a plain card. Just like what Mikan picked.

"Oh, that's the same thing that you're cousin picked…that's so strange!" Koko said, smiling uncontrollably.

Natsume stared at the card and stroked it carefully, then the oval where the photo of the illustration in the card came into view

"That's so cool! It's like some scratch and sniff thing!" Koko grinned and took the card. It was an illustration of a black cat being embraced by a beautiful angel. The black cat looked tortured, hungry and weak but it looked relaxed in the angel's arms. It felt safe.

"That's the Neko Tenshi card!" Koko said and took his notebook.

"It means that someone very close to you, someone you care about is willing to help you. But she or he is afraid. One of you plays the black cat, who comes into the angel's life with a dead soul. The angel, whoever he or she may play may want to help you and cares about you too…but angels come when you call them"

Natsume just looked at the card, puzzled.

"What are you doing here?" I said, coming into the room finding Natsume sitting beside Kokoroyomi.

Natsume stood up and left the room.

"YOU…WHY DON'T YOU GIVE ME AN ANSWER?!?!" I said, running out after him.

_Tell me… _

_Who is my angel?_

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**To be continued…**

Not one of my best chapters, I must admit. Anyway, just so you know Mikan is feeling very uncomfortable around Natsume and she's mentally accusing him for all those possessed people. Hotaru is getting depressed by the moment and Ruka…well…Ruka is going to get a new furry companion. See you in the next chapter of When Darkness Falls.


	7. Party Animals

**-THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED CHAPTER VI- **

**littledoggy**

It's okay about the shortness! Haha! Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it.

lysabelle

Yes, the two of them getting the same card does mean something! Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it!

Star Sapphirex

Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it!

Glenda23

Yup! Mikan thinks Natsume is doing it! Haha! Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it!

EreishaForFeia

Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it! And yes, I won't make it too sappy but there will be MxN moments!

**Defrosted Chicken Hater! **

Yay! Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it!! Haha! Yea! Go JTHC! See you on Monday!

RoyalGoddess

Hehehe. Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it!

The highlighted names are my friends. Arigatou, minnasan!

_**Where's your soul now?! **_

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**Chapter VII **

Party Animals

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"You're pathetic!"

"Gomenasai, master – I…I did try my best"

"Well your best wasn't good enough!"

"I promise I'll get it sooner or later!"

"You better!"

The voice vanished and the caped girl sighed. Why couldn't she get it right? That damn idiot was always getting in the way of her and her master's plans. And each time she failed to do her duty, the demons would make her night a living hell. It was excruciating, and not to mention frustrating. She watched the girl and the vampire enter the house again and close the sliding doors. The lights switched off and she looked at the house with sadness. She stood up and flew.

The Nagoya sky was generous with stars. They sparkled brilliantly in the sky while the faint sound of cars honking could be heard. But at this point, she couldn't think of the beauty the sky held at the moment. She was too busy plotting on what to do on her next attack. Her victims seemed aware that there was something lurking but she needed a plan.

Engrossed in her miserable thoughts, she didn't notice that something slipped out of her pocket due to the high pressure of the wind. She didn't notice it kick and scream as it fell down because the only thing she hear was her own despondent ideas. It called out her name but she didn't pay attention to its shrieks of worry. And before she knew it, she practically abandoned it and disappeared into the fog of the night.

The creature which fell from her pocket found itself lying down on lush green grass. It picked itself up and examined its surroundings. It was in a backyard. He saw shrubs standing neatly side by side and a barbeque grill. There was a broken down lawn mower lying beside the barbeque grill and a rusty rake. There was a bonsai on a glass table that was obviously neglected for quite sometime. The creature heard something coming from inside of the house. He went up to it and saw a blonde haired boy watching a game show on TV and shouting out answers. The creature flattened its face on the glass of the sliding door and watched the boy.

"Ruka! Time to sleep!" a woman's voice yelled.

"Coming, mom!" the blonde boy yelled. He shut the TV and put a cup in the sink. He was about to shut the lamp when he saw the creature watching him like a hawk.

"RUKA!!"

"Just a minute, mom!"

Ruka opened the sliding door. The creature backed away and quivered with fear. Ruka knelt down and beckoned the creature to come nearer.

"Hey! It's a rabbit!" he grinned. The 'creature' moved forward, sensing the safeness of Ruka and jumped into his arms.

"Where did you come from, Usagi?"

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Morning arrived.

"Ohayo, kanashimi" Hotaru whispered and stroked her side, coming to find nothing but the fabric of her bed sheets. She sat up in a start and groped around her futon, she threw her pillows around her bedroom and kicked the bed sheets out of the futon but just found an empty space. Oh no…oh no…oh no…

_**DING DONG**_

"What do you want?" Hotaru hissed, opening the door. There, was a sleepy Ruka who came to walk Hotaru to school. He yawned. His hair was uncombed and he had dry things sticking to his eye. He entered Hotaru's house and placed his backpack on the floor and removed his shoes.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"You already did, you bastard" Hotaru retorted.

"Wait" Ruka said. Hotaru turned around.

"You wear a night gown?" he said, pointing to Hotaru. Hotaru looked at herself on the mirror. Yes, she did. She wore a black silk night gown that night with lace on the straps. She turned to Ruka again.

"Yeah, so?"

"Hehe. You just have a nice figure, that's all!" Ruka grinned. Hotaru couldn't help but feel herself flush into a crimson color.

"Loser…" she whispered and stomped off to the bathroom in a fuss. She washed her hands and noticed some of her stitches were missing. But she didn't ponder on that for long because she was too worried about her rabbit.

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"Sorry about that!" Ruka said, as the two of them walked to school. The day was wonderful. The sun had just begun to rise, painting the sky in a wonderful periwinkle color. The birds rose out of their nests and sang their good morning song and the wind blew pretty cherry blossoms around the town.

Hotaru rolled her eyes. "With that, I'm raising your photo price by twenty yen"

"What? What are you talking about?" Ruka asked, as the two of them stopped to let the cars pass by.

"Profit" Hotaru said flatly and took out a clear book from her bag. There, inside the clear book were gigantic candid photographs of Ruka during home economics class the other day. Ruka had dough on his head and he was running around class putting batter on his face to make people laugh. Unfortunately, these were the consequences.

"Batter is not a facial mask, just so you know" Hotaru said, showing one of the pictures to Ruka who was now red with fury.

"Imai-san!! That's unfair!!"

"No. It's perfectly fair. You wanted to make yourself popular by looking stupid, and I'm making your dreams come true!" Hotaru said, aware that her sarcasm tore Ruka apart.

The red street light turned green and the two of them walked across the street. "By the way, do rabbits eat the same food as hamsters?"

"What? Why are you asking me that question?"

"Because you see I got a new rabbit"

Hotaru stopped. "Rabbit?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Hotaru spaced out for awhile and then finally blinked. She turned to Ruka. But before she could say anything, Ruka pointed to her black backpack. He noticed that of the many key chains that hung gloomily on it, there was something missing.

"Hey, where's…er…Kanashimi? You're black rabbit with buttons for eyes…the one who you seemed attached to all the time…"

"Somewhere that's not here!" Hotaru snapped and walked ahead of Ruka.

"Ah…Imai-san…wait!!"

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"Ruka-pyon, is Hotaru-chan alright?" Mikan asked in the middle of Math class. She had noticed that Hotaru was unusually quiet (well, she always is but today…today Hotaru gave an intense depressed feeling that just couldn't be ignored).

"I don't know…she stopped speaking to me after I mentioned Kanashimi to her"

"That's right, I didn't see her Kanashimi awhile ago. She usually brings it everywhere she goes…maybe she lost it"

"I don't know about her but I got a new pet!"

"Really? That's so cool!! What is it!?"

"Well it's…"

"SAKURA! NOGI! Keep quiet or else I'll send you to the Principal's Office!"

"Gomen!" the two of them said in unison and kept quiet until recess.

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Dismissal time arrived. The students stampeded out of the school and it was only the three of them left because they were on duty. Ruka, Mikan and Hotaru were to sweep the classroom and clean the chalkboard.

Sumire entered the classroom. "Hey, Stupid-Face!" she said, making herself comfortable by sitting on the teacher's table and filing her nails. "What a tacky looking classroom! My classroom has top-of-the-line computers and such…too bad you don't know what I'm talking about because you're just some small town girl and I come from…"

"Oh just shut up, Permy!" Mikan yelled. She wanted to throw the chalkboard eraser at her face but she had to discipline herself. The last time she did that to her, her grandpa prohibited her from watching television for a month, and she couldn't possibly live without her sitcom.

"Just as expected!! Small town girls never have manners!"

"Speak for yourself" Mikan replied, rolling her eyes.

"Moron"

"Clown"

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The four of them went to Mikan's house to do some homework. Going home wasn't enjoyable as it usually was because Permy was there to spoil the fun. She talked about her trip to New Zealand, Florida and Paris and all the hot boys she met along. She discussed her opinion on using cashmere sweaters instead of polyester jackets. It was tiring. Mikan would rather eat her own hair than listen to her boring antics.

"Permy, if you don't mind – we're going to do some homework"

"Oh, I mind…now where's your ever-so-adorable hottie cousin, Natsume-kun?"

"Hey, Polka-dots! You ran out of conditioner!" the raven haired boy said, coming out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist.

"YOU…YOU…" Mikan said, standing up with her eyes closed. "Don't come out of the bathroom naked you stupid moron!!"

"I'm not naked you idiot!"

"You're half-naked you bastard!"

"Ohmygod. I'm so totally turned on right now!" Sumire said, her face blushing. "Natsume-kun, you can come out like that anytime as long as I'm here!"

"Stupid" Natsume muttered and whipped the bottle of empty conditioner at Mikan. He stomped off to the bathroom.

When Natsume returned, Mikan's grandpa had just awakened from his nap.

"Mikan, I'm going to go to a meeting so I want you to keep an eye on the house" Jii-chan said and kissed Mikan and Permy good bye.

As soon as Mikan's grandpa left the house, Permy got the cordless phone and started pressing the numbers.

"What are you doing?"

"Throwing a party that's what I'm doing!" Permy yelled.

"WHAT?! You can't do that without jii-chan's permission!"

"Oh yes I can" Permy said. Mikan tried to get the phone out of Permy's grasp but then she kicked Mikan on the leg and Mikan fell on the floor.

"Yes? Hello? Oh, hi dahhhhlliiinggg! Hey, you want to come to my house? Party! Everyone's invited…you bring chips and coke, alright? Bring everyone you know and we're going to drink the night away!"

"Drink?" Mikan said as Permy hung up.

"Drink! Tequila, Mai Tai's… what's wrong?"

"We're…we're only sixteen!! You can't just go drink the night away!" Mikan yelled, her face red with fury.

"Aw…how cute!" Permy said, petting Mikan on the head. "It seems like old gramps has taught you some goody-goody values!"

"W-what?"

"Here's an opportunity for you to taste your first alcohol…but since you're a pwetty baby, maybe you'd like a juice box instead!! Should I bake some little cookies for you? I can put lots and lots of love on it!"

"Don't mock me you stupid seaweed haired monster! I'm canceling the party! This isn't even your house!"

"Go ahead. Cancel it. But my friends ride fast…" Sumire said, with a glint of evil in her face. She put a CD in the stereo and put the volume on full blast.

"PERMY! I swear! I'm going to kill you!"

"Correction…gramps is going to KILL YOU"

_**DING DONG**_

"There they are now!!"

"PERMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

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"One day, Permy will wear rags and I'll be filthy rich and famous!" Mikan told Natsume as she served chips around the house.

The party was horrendous. The friends of Permy seemed rabid, they climbed up the drapes and ate pillows. It was scary. Loud full blast music played on the stereo and Permy dimmed the lights to put some 'wild mood' into it. The guests were watched X rated movies and jumping on the tables. They were banging electric guitars on the floor and wrapping toilet paper around each other. _I've seen more behaved second graders_ Mikan thought. "Would you like a chip?" she asked a guest and the guest just growled and started dancing…well…she wasn't sure if it was dancing because it looked horrible.

"You know moping won't help" Natsume responded and was attacked by the friends of Sumire.

"Mikan-chan! We came here to do our homework! Not party!" Ruka yelled. His homework was now being eaten by Sumire's friend's boa constrictor.

"Gomen, Ruka-pyon and Hotaru-chan…demo…Permy can get a little over the top sometimes!"

"This is a little over the top? I don't think so" Hotaru said, staring at a person who was chopping soap and telling people it was breath mints.

Mikan just looked at her two out-of-place friends and went around saying "Would you like a chip? Would you like a chip?"

"Imai-san, let's say we ditch this party!" Ruka said

"What? I can't hear you!"

"LET'S DITCH THIS PARTY!!!"

"WHAT?!"

Ruka took Hotrau by the hand and pushed through the crowd. The two of them made their way out of the crowd of drunk sixteen to eighteen year olds and finally made it out of the house.

"Thank the Lord we were able to get out of that party!" Ruka said.

"Now what will we do now?"

"You want to just take a walk?"

"Whatever"

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"Noo! Ruka-pyon and Hotaru-chan ditched me!" Mikan said, noticing the empty table that was now consumed with spilt alcohol.

"Now where's Natsume?" she thought to herself, looking around the house. Permy, who was now dancing on the kitchen counter seemed to have not noticed that the house was a wreck and everything was going so wrong. Toilet paper and spilled beer were everywhere and the couch was now soaked with wine. It was a sight for sore eyes.

"Stupid-Face, will you put this in the closet?" Sumire asked, giving Mikan a dirty tablecloth.

Mikan shrugged and went to the closet, coming to find Natsume just sitting there – writing something on a worn out notebook.

"Hi Natsume. What are you doing?" Mikan asked, closing the door and opening the closet light.

"None of your business!" Natsume replied and shut his notebook.

"Natsume, why do you always posses people?"

"What? Who said such a stupid thing?"

"Natsume-kun, Ruka-pyon's book said that vampires are known to possess people. And, well…ever since you came in – there have been strange things happening…you remember the incident with Permy, Iinchou and Koko? Those happened when you came into my life, Natsume"

Natsume was speechless.

"You look lonely, Natsume-kun"

"Don't act like you know me!" Natsume said, hitting her head. Mikan flinched.

"You're just so rude, aren't you!? You never appreciate peoples' sympathy!"

_They never appreciated mine! _Natsume thought.

"I hate humans" he grunted.

All of a sudden, the door swung open. It was one of Sumire's friends.

"Hey! These two lovers are playing Seven Minutes in Heavennn!!"

"WHAT?! We're not!!" Mikan objected, standing up.

"Don't deny it!" Sumire's friends grinned, gathering around the closet and laughing at the now sweatdropping Mikan and Natsume.

Before Mikan and Natsume could say anything else there was an angry yell coming from the living room.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!"

It was grandpa.

All of the teenagers dashed out the windows. Mikan, Natsume and Sumire were the only ones left.

Boy, were they in trouble.

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"So here we are at your house" Ruka said, as he and Hotaru stopped by her house.

"Glad we left that dumb party" he grinned. Hotaru just looked down.

"So we can be alone together…" Ruka continued. Hotaru looked up with her face slight crimson.

"W-what the hell are you talking about?" she stuttered.

"Nyahahaha. I'm just joking. Okay, I'll go now. Ja!" he laughed and walked away. gonna kill you… 

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"I'm never going to forgive you, Permy!" Mikan told her cousin, who was sleeping on the couch while clutching a bottle of beer.

"Mikan! Stop dawdling and clean the house!"

"Jii-chan! Shouldn't Permy be the one doing this? I mean, she was the one who started the whole thing!"

"It's your fault too. I gave the responsibility to you and when I came home there was gum on the ceiling and toilet paper wrapped around everything! And why does the television set have noodles on the screen? Mikan, get to work!" Grandpa said firmly and went to the bathroom.

"Permy, I'm going to hate you forever" Mikan growled and continued sweeping the floor. She continued sweeping until she met a dust pan, which Natsume was holding.

"Natsume ---"

"What?" he demanded, as Mikan swept the trash into the dustpan.

"You're helping me…"

"And your point is?"

"Even though you possess people…you care about me!" Mikan smiled.

"I mean, you wouldn't be helping me right now if you didn't care…_you're really a kind person_!"

Natsume blushed a bit and shook his head. "Get your head in the cleaning, will you?"

Stupid girl.


	8. The Rain

**THANK YOU**

Star Sapphirex, Ai-chan13, **DefrostedChickenHater, **rukiakami, RoyalGoddess, lysabelle, glenda23, **cutegabrielle16**, SnowCharms and Sherry for reviewing the seventh chapter. Here's the eighth chapter. Do enjoy it.

**DISCLAIMED**

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**CHAPTER VII **

The Rain

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The smell of beer hung lazily in the living room the day after the party. Mikan and Natsume were too exhausted to complete the cleaning of the living room that they neglected their cleaning duties and eventually dozed off after throwing the third plastic cup into the garbage bag.

Natsume slept soundly on the sofa, with the garbage bag in his hands. He suddenly felt something tickle his chin. His ruby eyes flew open and he found a sleeping Mikan hugging him as if he were a teddy bear. She was sleeping as well and she was nuzzling her cheek against his neck. Natsume turned his head. She had been sleeping beside him the whole time and he didn't even notice it. But he didn't know if he enjoyed it or not.

Sumire lay drunk on the cupboard, murmuring weird things that involved sponge cakes. Jii-chan was still asleep in his room, extremely exhausted from yelling at the three 'kids' who made a mess in the house. And even though Mikan desperately tried to explain her part of the story and it was Sumire's fault, Jii-chan didn't believe her and grounded her for three weeks.

Natsume stood up and looked out the window; he examined the sun's brightness as it poured down the living room. He didn't understand why he didn't feel intense pain when looking at the sun and why he didn't have that much nocturnal characteristic like his fellow vampires. Could it be related to his past? When he first became a vampire?

Before he could sink into his bloody flashback, Mikan's eyelashes fluttered and she awoke. She groaned and stared at the ticking wall clock which read: **9:20 AM**

"OH MY GOD!! I'M LATE FOR SCHOOL!!!" she screamed and hopped out of the couch. She turned to Natsume and glared at him.

"Why didn't you wake me up, you stupid vampire??" Mikan yelled, thrusting a throw pillow at Natsume who ducked skillfully as it neared him. He caught the throw pillow and rolled his eyes.

"You're not the only one who falls asleep, dummy" he remarked and threw the pillow at the panicking idiot who fell on her butt and grunted. She took the throw pillow and stomped off to the bathroom and there was silence. Only the sound of Sumire's snoring and the sound of water flowing down the faucet echoed throughout the house.

Mikan returned out of the bathroom in her school uniform. She glanced at the wall clock once more and gasped. She took her school shoes and ran out the door.

"Stupid girl" Natsume muttered, recalling the moment he woke up.

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"Mikan, were you able to get some sleep last night?" Ruka asked during the middle of lunch, he had noticed that Mikan was constantly falling towards her table with her eyes closed and then waking up from her subconscious. Her pig tails were not tied well as it usually was and her face looked paler than a sheet.

"Of course I was!" Mikan yawned. "It's just that stupid Permy…"

"You look quite idiotic with those dry things stuck to your mouth" Hotaru remarked, pointing to Mikan's lips which were crunched with dried drool.

Mikan took out her pocket mirror and wiped the dried drool out. "Thanks, Hotaru-chan"

Hotaru just nodded.

"Mikan-chan, isn't that your cousin?" Ruka inquired, pointing to the end of the lunch room. Sumire was socializing with a bunch of girls, Mikan could hear her voice from the other side of the room. She was discussing about whether faux fur coats were nicer than the real animal fur or whether you should buy Prada or not. Mikan rolled her eyes.

"That good for nothing drunkard…I hate her!!"

"Well, in my opinion she looks presentable for someone who spent the whole night drinking. Her face looks washed and she doesn't seem to have drool sticking to her face" Hotaru said, comparing the two cousins.

"Well, it wasn't my fault that she had a party and I took the blame for it when jii-chan came home"

"Did you have to clean up?"

"Yeah I did. But Natsume helped"

"It seems to me that that Natsume guy is very much interested in you" Ruka laughed.

"Oh shut up" Mikan grunted. "He's my cousin, remember?" she whispered.

"Come to think of it you two don't look alike" he told Mikan.

"Well, he's from a distant part of the family" Mikan said and sighed. She didn't want to lie to them but there was nothing more she could do. They would never ever believe her anyway if she came up and said "Hey, Natsume really is a vampire". It would be too awkward anyway.

"Stupid-Face, jii-chan says you haven't cleaned the house properly and is expecting a better job when he comes home later" Sumire said, walking up to Mikan who had an exasperated expression plastered onto her face.

"Yes, Permy…I am quite aware of that" Mikan responded, her eye twitching with anger.

"You better do what grandpa says or…"

"Don't act like you're the favorite of grandpa!!"

"Oh shut up, you're just jealous that I'm a Tokyo girl and you're not!"

"I don't care"

"Stupid-Face"

The two cousins rolled their eyes and folded their arms.

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The hours passed and soon it was dismissal time. Gray skies loomed about and it started raining. Rain splattered against the windows and colorful umbrellas danced in the rain accompanied with shiny vivid rain coats. Mikan stared at the pouring rain, afraid to get her school shoes wet. She had stopped riding the bus home when she reached second year high school since her grandpa and she moved to a closer location. Ever since, she hadn't gotten into these kinds of situations.

"Mikan-chan, you don't have an umbrella or something?" Ruka asked, opening his blue umbrella.

"No…I don't…"

Hotaru didn't say anything but merely opened her black umbrella. It seemed to put more silence and mystery as she put it over her head.

"We would share ours with you but then this umbrella only has room for one"

"Oh, that's alright. Please go ahead; I'll go home when the rain stops"

"Are you sure?"

"Yup. Go ahead! We have lots of homework, right? You don't want to delay" Mikan said, pushing Ruka and Hotaru out. The rain pattered against the umbrella and the two of them looked at her with soulful eyes.

"Yes, you're right. Come," Hotaru whispered and took Ruka by the wrist and the two walked and disappeared into the mist of the rain.

Mikan sat down on the bench and waited for the rain to stop. But unfortunately, it wouldn't. It poured continuously and there was a long flow of water running down the sidewalk. Mikan sighed and just stared at the school clock and just waited. Mikan didn't enjoy complaining so she just remained quiet, she couldn't do her homework either for she was afraid that the rain would splatter on her textbooks and ruin them.

All she had was the time.

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"I feel bad for Mikan" Ruka told Hotaru as the two of them walked to their homes, battling the strong winds and the tiny flood that pushed their wet, tired feet.

Hotaru didn't say anything.

"Hey you want to stay in my house for awhile? You know, until the rain stops"

"Okay"

The two of them reached Ruka's house. Ruka unlocked the door, removed his shoes and let Hotaru come in. Hotaru looked around the house and sat down on the couch as Ruka turned on the television, it featured a documentary on vampires.

"This is my favorite show. They show everything about vampires!" Ruka said and photos of Dracula started flashing on the TV screen. "He's my idol" he whispered.

Hotaru just stared at him disgustingly and watched the program with him. All of a sudden, a white rabbit hopped onto Ruka's lap and nuzzled against his arm. Hotaru's eyes widened and turned rigid.

"Usagi!" Ruka said and held up the rabbit who was squirming in his arms.

"You have a rabbit?"

"Yeah! I found him the other day in my backyard. Funny thing"

Hotaru's hands stiffened and a stitch slowly plucked itself out.

"I…I have to go!" she murmured and stood up, she picked up her bag and put on her shoes.

"But it's still raining!"

"I don't care!" Hotaru said and glanced at herself at the mirror and rubbed her tearing eyes. She opened the door.

"Imai-san, you might…you might get sick" Ruka said, grabbing Hotaru's arms. It was very cold…seemed lifeless, no pulse at all.

"I never get sick!" Hotaru yelled and walked out. Ruka was still holding her arm and she stared at his hand as if it was a cockroach

"Don't hold me!" she said and pulled her arm out of his grasp.

"Imai!!"

Hotaru took her umbrella and walked out.

Imai-san…you…whenever I'm with you…I feel like I'm with…

**Nothing. **

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"Wake up, dummy!"

Mikan's eyes shot open and she found herself drenched. Her hair was tangled up and wet and her textbooks and bags were drowned in water. She rubbed her eyes and saw Natsume standing in front of her with an umbrella in his hands.

"Oh gosh! I'm wet!!!" Mikan said, looking at her uniform which looked like it had been dipped into the ocean and returned back to her.

Mikan collected her books and put them in her bag, she stood up. "Can…can we go home now?"

"Whatever" Natsume said and opened the umbrella.

Mikan went under the umbrella and held his arm tightly.

"What do you think you're doing?" Natsume said looking at her arm which was clutching his arm for dear life.

"I'm tired…is it okay if I hold onto you?"

"Dummy"

"I take that as yes" Mikan grinned and the two of them resumed walking.

Yes.

Natsume really took that as a yes.

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**To be continued…**

**Reviews/constructive criticism are much welcomed. **


	9. TenderLovingCare

**-THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED CHAPTER EIGHT-**

**littledoggy, **Sherry, SnowCharms, Ai-chan13, lysabelle, glenda23, Aminatsu032, sarafyna-chan, **nullifying-alice14, Defrosted Chicken Hater, **Royal Goddess, **Xian-Pyon, **anitsirhc. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**DISCLAIMED**

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**Chapter Nine**

Tender-Loving-Care

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The next day was filled with sneezes, coughs, phlegm and bitter cough syrup.

Mikan lay on her bed with a nose redder than Rudolph's, teary eyes and an upset stomach. This is what she got for not bringing and umbrella and not leaving right after dismissal time and she had to muddle through with it. Oh why? Why did it have to rain yesterday? She hated being sick as much as she hated eating okra and tried to avoid it, but she couldn't avoid the rain could she? No. She couldn't.

The sun glimmered above the Sakura residence and the birds chirped enthusiastically. The day was so cheerful, that whenever the miserable Mikan looked out the window she longed to be out with all the flowers, the sunshine but she knew very well that when she went out, she longed to be in for the heat would get to her and her temperature would rise.

Mikan lay on the floor miserably and gave a congested cough.

"Mikan!! Natsume needs his breakfast!!" an angry jii-chan yelled from the dining room.

"But grandpa!!" Mikan whined. Sure her grandpa agreed to her absence at school but that didn't mean she had to disappear silently into the comforts of her bedroom the whole day. Plus, there was no use arguing with Jii-chan unless she wanted a horrible scolding which could even lead to worse matters.

"Mikan! Do as I say or I'll throw your Panda collection away!!" grandpa yelled.

Mikan, though lethargic – she was mostly obliged to sit up and obey jii-chan for she couldn't possibly afford to lose all her beloved panda collection. They were just too cute and precious to be thrown into the garbage. She just couldn't resist their adorable roundness, it was just too irresistible.

"Coming, jii-chan!!!"

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Cooking was a drag. Mikan was too sickly to make a decent pancake that she ended up giving the spoiled vampire a bowl of pancake batter.

"What the hell is this?!" the raven haired boy yelled, staring at the sad bowl with fury.

"Breakfast" Mikan grunted.

"Are you trying to poison me, woman?"

"You don't even eat freakin' breakfast!" Mikan said.

"And so?"

Mikan had to admit that the breakfast wasn't presentable as she would always make it appear so but she was too exhausted to ponder on her thoughts at the moment. She was too drowsy from medicine and too exhausted to even fight Natsume. She shut her eyes and dozed off, landing on Natsume's chest.

"Y-you…you idiot!" yelled Natsume, blushing.

Still, Natsume couldn't help but sink into that feverish comfort. He put his hands on her head and stroked her chestnut colored hair gently. She slept soundly and he sighed to himself. "What a loser" he whispered and let her be.

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Nobody seemed to think of anything in class that day. Math was such a bore and everybody spent their time pondering on their thoughts or daydreaming about this and that. Ruka watched the clouds drift away and watched various cars pass by. He was bored stiff and didn't bother to listen to Mr. Jinno's equations.

Hotaru in fact wasn't even paying attention at all. The class seemed so dead without the annoyingness of the pig-tailed weirdo and she just stared into the empty seat across her. She occasionally took a piece of paper and drew strange caricatures on it and then threw it out the window without the teacher noticing.

Ruka began doodling as well, the sound of his pen was so irritating that Hotaru's ears twitched as the pen scribbled violently on the piece of paper.

"The sound of your pen is annoying me" Hotaru commented as she watched Ruka scribble.

"Then don't listen to it" Ruka replied, without looking at his pissed seatmate.

"I like your pen better than you. You smell like trash"

"Nobody asked for your opinion, robot" Ruka retorted.

"Imai! Nogi! Silence!" Mr. Jinno yelled, the rest of the class sat up and stared at the two students who stared at the evil face of the teacher in horror. They grew rigid as Mr. Jinno stared at them with much hatred and started tapping his foot, as if expecting an explanation for the rude interruption.

"Sorry. Imai and I were having a lover's spat" Ruka laughed, grinning sheepishly.

"Lovers spat!" Hotaru exclaimed, turning crimson and glaring at the laughing boy.

"Hehe. Just joking, Imai!" Ruka smiled and went back to doodling. Mr. Jinno turned back and Hotaru's face turned whiter than a sheet.

"Nogi, I wish you death"

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"And we have a winner!"

There was nothing more you could do in the Sakura residence but watch TV.

Unfortunately, the television programs were nothing but kiddy shows, news programs and stupid game shows. Natsume sat motionlessly on the foot of his futon with the sleeping sixteen year old snoring on his lap. Natsume himself was getting sleepy for the shows weren't worth watching at all. He was about to die.

Mikan slumbered peacefully on his lap and he tried his very best not to stare at her adorable sleeping face but occasionally took a glance or two.

Her feverish body warmed his as he battled ennui and the sound of her congested snores sounded like a purring kitten.

He didn't understand why he was letting her cuddle up to him. He hated hugs as much as he hated her. He grew rigid and sweat trickled down his neck but he didn't push her away.

"Mikan…oh, Natsume-kun!" Jii-chan said, opening the door. His face tightened as he saw Mikan sleeping like a baby.

"Gomenasai. She's making you feel uncomfortable, right?"

"She has a fever" Natsume said flatly.

Grandpa nodded slowly and headed for the door. Halfway there, he stopped and gave a smile.

"Please take care of her. Her medicine is outside"

Natsume grunted. Man, he felt like "the man of the house"

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"So I'm there and Usagi is hopping like a lunatic…"

"RUKA! Will you shut the hell up?" Hotaru said, putting her fingers on her temples as the two of them walked home.

Hotaru wasn't in the good mood in the first place, she failed in the Math quiz and she didn't like frustration at all. She wanted to hit herself for she couldn't afford to make her grades drop, for it would cause a great risk to her reputation to her…

"But…"

"I don't want to hear any more stupid stories about your damn rabbit, alright?!"

"Jeez! What have you against Usagi?"

"I don't have anything against Kanashi --- I mean, Usagi" Hotaru said, rolling her eyes.

"Then why…"

"Look! I just don't want to talk about it, got it? Here's Mikan's house…we have to give her the homework"

Hotaru rang the doorbell and she could hear muffled voices from behind the door.

"_NO! I DON'T WANT TO DRINK THE MEDICINE!!!!" _

"_YOU HAVE TO YOU STUPID MORON!!!" _

"_THAT MEDICINE IS EVIL, I TELL YOU. PURE EVIL!!!" _

"_SHUT UP AND DRINK THE DAMN MEDICINE!!" _

"_MAKE ME!!" _

Ruka opened the door and found Mikan pinned to the wall as Natsume forced in some syrup into her mouth. She shuddered at the yucky tasted and she gasped for air as Natsume let go of her, realizing that Hotaru and Ruka were standing at the front door, Hotaru smirking and Ruka laughing.

"Natsume, you dog!" Ruka laughed, hitting Natsume on the back. "That's the first time I ever saw a guy forcing Mikan to…"

"Oh shut up!! I wasn't going to harass her or anything!" Natsume yelled, turning red.

"Huh? I was going to say it's the first time I ever saw a guy forcing Mikan to drink medicine"

Natsume turned red.

"Ruka-pyon! Hotaru-chan!!" Mikan squealed, running to her two friends.

"Math, Science, Home Economics, research paper for Social Studies and quiz tomorrow for Literature. Ruka and I agreed to fill you in with the complicated Algebra equations, give you the Greek recipe, the recommended research engine and the backgrounds of the three witches of MacBeth" Hotaru declared and handed Mikan a bunch of papers as well as Ruka's notes and a notebook with prices of embarrassing blackmail Ruka photographs.

"Feel free to make some orders" Hotaru said and sat down.

"God, I can't believe I missed this much" Mikan whined, staring at the overwhelming stacks of textbooks and assignments.

"So did you and Natsume have some loverly-doverly time?" Ruka grinned.

Natsume just stuck out his tongue.

"I know Imai-san and I had some loverly-doverly…"

"Oh shut up!!" Hotaru grunted.

"I'm just kidding! It's not like it's true, you weirdo!"

Hotaru sighed. That was the most annoying part about it.

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Mikan grew sicker by the hour and was too drained to make some dinner. Natsume felt much obliged to do so and the two ended up eating dry spaghetti.

"It's kind of you to make me some dinner" Mikan said, staring at her dinner with much dissatisfaction.

"Shut up. I'm only doing it cause I'm hungry"

"I thought vampires don't eat human food"

Natsume remained silent.

"You really care for me, Natsume-kun"

"STOP SAYING THAT!!!"

"Hey can you help me eat? My hands are too shaky to get some spaghetti…I'm so exhausted" showing the fork to Natsume.

Natsume rolled his eyes and picked up the fork.

"Baka" he said, and put some spaghetti into Mikan's mouth.

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The following morning, Mikan had to help Natsume for he caught the cold from her.

"Now say ahhh!" Mikan said, spooning some alphabet soup.

"I hate soup"

"I know you're a vampire and you prefer blood but you still need your nutrition!"

"Now say ahhh!!" Mikan smiled.

Natsume grunted and wrapped himself in the blanket and gave a sneeze. Mikan laughed and fed the soup to him and he shuddered at the tomato-ish taste.

"I hate this" he grunted.

Still, he didn't say he didn't enjoy Mikan.

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**To be continued…**

**Please review! Constructive criticism/plain reviews are welcomed!!!! Love you all! **


	10. Unnamed Chapter

**THANK YOU TO THE PEOPLE WHO CHAP 9**

**littledoggy, **Ai-chan13, RoyalGoddess, ErieshaForFeira, MoonLove Angel, mayelrules13, cupidsangel, ayen Christopher, Typh, glenda23, Aminatsu032, **cutegabrielle16, **Sherry, lysabelle, SnowCharms, sarafyna-chan, anitsirhc

_**Where's your soul now? **_

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**CHAPTER X**

Unnamed Chapter

(NOTE: the chapter is unnamed because I couldn't think of anything. Haha)

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"Natsume-kun? Daijobou?"

Natsume sat up from his futon, his nose all runny and his face paler than it usually is. Mikan smiled and knelt down beside him. She put her hand on Natsume's forehead. The temperature had gone down but he still was sicker than a stray dog.

"This is your fault" Natsume said, his voice nasal and congested.

"But how come I healed faster than you? You're still sick…" Mikan replied, putting a small damp face towel on his forehead to bring down the fever. Natsume sneezed and rolled his eyes.

"Is it because you haven't been drinking blood or something?" she inquired, not waiting for a reply.

Natsume stared at the window for awhile. Mikan noticed this and turned to the direction he was staring at. Something seemed to be hiding in the bushes and it quickly dashed as soon as Mikan laid eyes on it.

"What was that?" Mikan asked, tugging Natsume's pajama sleeve.

"I don't know" he said.

"Hey, stupid…aren't you supposed to be in school by now?"

"Oh right!" Mikan said, promptly standing up. "Ja! Natsume-kun!" she said and ran out the door.

Well, Natsume DID know what or who that was. He just didn't want his pig-tailed friend to yell in pure shock.

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"_WHAT! You haven't captured that nuisance yet?!" _

"_I told you…Kanashimi has wandered off somewhere" _

"_I know that you useless bitch! Just make my orders happen, alright? Do I have to remind you ALL the time about the consequences if you don't fulfill this mission." _

"_You have told me lots of times, master. I'm quite aware of that already" _

"_Don't use that tone with me!" _

"_You're not my mother" _

"_You never had one and don't imagine that do!"_

_-Click- _

"Hotaru-chan?"

Hotaru blinked and turned to the pig-tailed brunette. "What is it?"

"Nothing. You just looked so depressed" Mikan said, giving a smile.

Hotaru sighed. She hated to admit it but she was REALLY and HONESTLY depressed. She wanted to pour out all these heart-wrenching emotions but if she ever announced that she had any feelings, she would suffer the consequences and those certain consequences were much too painful to bear.

"Okay. So please don't forget to do your assignment, pages 102-104 and I'll see you tomorrow. Class dismissed" Serina-sensei said and the class stood up to get ready for lunch.

Ruka, Mikan and Hotaru walked to their usual lunch spot. It was under the Sakura tree and the three of them enjoyed the soft breezes that they would receive whenever they would sit down on the spiky wildflowers that would tickle their thighs.

Their eyes were fixed upon a group of seniors. They seemed so carefree and they ran around the field, tossing Frisbee. One of them, was (to Mikan) VERY handsome.

His name was Andou Tsubasa.

He had bluish black hair and sapphire eyes. He was the hottest of all the seniors and even had a small star tattoo below his eye. He was the most popular boy in school and all the girls would melt whenever their eyes would meet his. He was **a dream-come-true.**

Mikan couldn't help staring at his face. She was in much of a daze when she didn't notice that the Frisbee hit her chest. She flinched a bit and continued staring at the seniors.

"Gomene!" he yelled and ran to her. He picked it up and smiled. "Saika"

"I-i-i-it's okay" Mikan stuttered and brushed off some dirt off her skirt

"Hehe. Oh, you're Imai Hotaru?" Tsubasa said, turning to Hotaru who just glared at him.

"How do you know my name?" she grunted.

"Hehe. Your ID" Tsubasa laughed and grinned. Hotaru just glared at her.

"Oh and you're Nogi Ruka" Tsubasa said, examining Ruka's ID.

"YEAH! I'm the boyfriend of Hotaru"

"Oh are you?" Tsubasa smiled.

"Shut the hell up"

"Just joking!!" Ruka giggled.

"Okay. I better get going, nice getting to know you guys. Ja!" Tsubasa said and ran to his friends.

"URGH. He didn't even look at my ID" Mikan grunted, folding her arms.

Mikan noticed Hotaru space out for quite sometime and then she stood up. "I'll just go to the bathroom" she muttered and without waiting for a reply, she ran off.

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"_Why are you telling me this if you don't even have frikkin Kanashimi?" _

"_Because that Andou guy had a beautiful soul. It was very pure and I think…it could help us capture that nuisance" _

"_Uh-huh…and how can we even capture that exile when you lost that dumb rabbit!?" _

"_It would be nice if you lent me some pins" _

"…_."_

"_Master?" _

"_Pins? Why the hell would I lend you some pins?!?!"_

"_The ones with demons inside" _

"_Oh…you mean the ones that you use to possess people" _

"_Yes" _

"_I thought you meant the ones for sewing. Bah. Fine. I'll lend you some pins" _

"_Arigatou gozaimasu, master" _

"_Whatever" _

Then three pins arose from her ears and she took them. She stared at them blankly and placed them inside her pocket.

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The day passed and Ruka left earlier than he normally does for a soccer tournament. Mikan and Hotaru remained in the classroom as they cleaned up the trash since they were on duty. The sky was painted in magnificent scarlet colors and the birds flew elegantly in the sky and Hotaru stared at them as they did.

"Hotaru-chan…do you want to walk home with me?" Mikan asked, placing the cleaning materials back into the cabinet.

"Hmm? Oh. No, thanks. I'll just walk home by myself" Hotaru said, her voice drooping with much melancholy. Mikan noticed that day by day, Hotaru grew sadder and Mikan grew awfully worried for her as she watched her face grow paler.

"Are you sure? It's awfully dangerous. There are mean men lurking around and I like walking with people" Mikan replied. She hated to admit the fact that she was afraid of walking home alone. It was her worst nightmare…unless she'd decide to take the bus instead.

"I'll be fine. I can handle idiots like them" Hotaru sighed.

"Ok" Mikan said and took her bag. Hotaru watched her leave the classroom and watched her walk out of the campus. Hotaru took her bag as well and closed the classroom door. But she didn't go home. No. She couldn't go home. She had to fulfill a duty.

She went straight for the senior classrooms and opened one where Tsubasa was. Luckily for her, he was still there, cleaning up.

"**You have a beautiful soul…**

**It begins NOW" **

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**DING DONG**

"I'll get it!" yelled Mikan and ran to the door. She was thrilled to have a guest since she and Natsume spent endless hours playing Monopoly and apparently, she couldn't even buy a property since Natsume's player kept on buying them and no matter what, he wouldn't run out of coins.

Mikan opened the door but nobody was there.

"Natsume-kun, did you hear someone ring the door bell?"

Natsume gave her a strange look and continued counting his money.

Mikan shrugged and closed the door.

"What time is it anyway?"

"Quarter to twelve" Natsume responded.

"Oh I better get to sleep" the brunette said. Natsume nodded and abandoned the Monopoly set. Mikan shut the lights and they went to their respective bedrooms.

Mikan opened her lamp and found a Frisbee lying on her bed. Mikan pondered about this because she didn't own a Frisbee and didn't remember bringing one home. She shrugged and picked it up.

The Frisbee was so hot. Mikan let it go and it immediately disappeared.

"Uh oh" Mikan whispered. She could sense this was one of those ridiculous incidents.

"Mikan-chan" a voice said. Mikan turned her head and found a boy sitting down on her table.

"Tsubasa!" Mikan exclaimed.

"Would you like to play a game of Frisbee?"

Mikan gulped. "Natsume…" she whispered.

Then, countless Frisbees were tossed at her. They had blades and Mikan clumsily dodged each one. She wasn't good at dodging and one even cut her knee. She flinched with pain and then Tsubasa came and pinned her to the wall.

"I'm sent to kill that nuisance" he told her.

"Nuisance?" Mikan asked.

"Yes. But first I have to kill you!" he said and put his hands around her neck. Mikan gasped for air but his nails dug into her throat as she did.

_Natsume, you never stop don't you? _She asked herself and finally mustered up enough strength to free herself from Tsubasa's grasp.

Tsubasa fell on her bed and Natsume came in. Again, he removed something out of Tsubasa's chest and he fell on the floor unconscious.

"Natsume---how could you?!?!" Mikan yelled, pushing Natsume.

"Wha---?"

"I thought you stopped but you didn't!!! You just never stop possessing people! I know you've done it for a few times only but its pissing me off!!! I cant believe you intend to HURT ME!!!"

"I told you a million times I'm not the one who's doing it!!!"

Mikan just pushed him out her room. "And I can't believe you targeted the hottest guy in school, too!"

Natsume rolled his eyes and walked back to his room, coughing. Yep, he still had his cold.

He wanted to tell Mikan **everything **but he knew that she just didn't have the strength to understand.

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**To be continued…**

**Hope you liked it. Please review!! Xoxoxo **


	11. Excruciating Loneliness

…**THANK YOU…**

**May520, littledoggy**, jacksparrow589, lysabelle, cupidsangel, Aminatsu032, **cutegabrielle16,** anitsirhc for reviewing the tenth chapter…arigatou gozaimasu!

…**NOTES…**

Bwahaha. I don't feel like updating the rest of my fanfics right now, so I'll just update this one! Hope you like it!

…**WARNING…**

**Expect OOCness in this chapter. You've been warned.**

_**Where's your soul now? **_

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**Chapter Eleven**

Excruciating Loneliness

(Rukaru)

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**M**ikan was angry, no doubt about it.

Angry at who?

Well, angry at Natsume of course.

And it wasn't the "He-is-a-pervert" kind of angriness. It was the frustrated type, the kind of angriness you would feel when somebody is nagging you and you're tired of it. She had a tugging feeling pulling her down and she didn't know what to think anymore.

She wanted to believe Natsume but she wasn't strong enough. Who was doing everything anyway?

Her mind was in turmoil as she bandaged herself in the darkness of her bedroom. She hadn't spoken to Natsume for a week now. She had to admit that it was quite difficult since she would often forget that she WAS angry at him and try to talk to him, but she promised herself that she wouldn't talk to him until he told her the truth.

Scraped legs and having bruises were no fun at all. How could she wear he favorite mini skirts now without people noticing her legs? Call her sensitive. She didn't care. She was pissed at Natsume and that was **_final. _**

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**S**ummer was arriving any time now. The sky was bluer than ever and the sun belted everybody with its scorching heat. The grass had begun to dry to a shade of brown and everyone took out their lawn sprinklers.

Hotaru watched the children next door run around the sprinklers wearing their colorful sprinklers. Their parents were barbequing some pork chops and preparing lemonade. Hotaru's mouth watered in pure envy. No, she didn't want the pork chops or the lemonade. She wanted a family.

It was hard to resist. Ever since the heat had begun, that family had been barbequing and running around the sprinklers all day long and all the dark-haired girl could do was watch from her window, whilst her heart being crushed.

Oh, wait…she didn't have a heart.

It's difficult to explain Hotaru's feelings as the weeks go by. She grows more envious and depressed everyday and she didn't enjoy it at all. Her life was a lie and she knew it. But dear reader, I am not going to explain that until we reach the further chapters.

Hotaru drew the curtains and sank into the misery of her dismal house. Was it even a house? It was more like a morgue. It was cold, sad and there was no life that stirred about. It was her little prison that she couldn't get out of until she finally completed her mission. Well, completing her mission wouldn't make her something anyway – she would just return to her evil master whom she hated.

"Kanashimi" she murmured. She missed her so. Kanashimi was her best friend and losing her companion was like a lollipop losing its stick. It was painful.

_**Ding Dong**_

Hotaru stood up and opened the door. _Oh great, _she thought. It was the person whom she'd rather not see.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Imai-san!" he said and entered without being asked.

"I didn't ask you to come in, Ruka" she told him.

"Boyfriends go into their girlfriend's house right?" the blonde boy grinned.

"Stop kidding around!" snapped Hotaru.

"I'm not joking" Ruka said, looking at Hotaru with much seriousness. Hotaru gulped.

Her heart raced as he put his hands on her shoulders. Why? Why was he doing this? Was this some torture she had to endure every time he met her? It was stupid!! But still, it felt good and she didn't know why.

"Loser!" Ruka laughed, hitting Hotaru on the shoulder.

Hotaru turned pink. "You stupid…"

"Man, you can't take a joke can you?" he said, making himself comfortable on Hotaru's couch.

"I can. But only sensible ones"

"Jokes are never sensible!" Ruka said.

Hotaru just sighed.

"Ne, Imai-san? You seem to get more depressed each day. Try to cheer up, will you? It's scary to see someone as hot as you to be so down in the dumps"

"I'm not **_hot" _**Hotaru said. She didn't even know why he used 'hot' in that particular way. Didn't hot refer to a certain temperature? Still, she didn't get it.

Ruka laughed. "You're so cute!"

"Stop it or I'll kill you."

"But seriously, every time I see you…you seem so…emo"

"Humph"

"Hey" Ruka said, standing up. "Why don't we go out?"

"What?"

"Go out...see a movie…go to the park…laugh at some people…dance in the fountain…whatever! Just to get that thing that's bothering you out of your head"

Hotaru looked at him.

"I mean, not in a date. As friends…like a gimmick…you know"

"What's the catch?" she inquired, raising her eyebrow.

"None! Can't friends have bonding?"

**Friends…**

"Fine" Hotaru said, walking to her room.

"Great! I'll just wait here, okay?"

_Ruka…_

_Why the hell do you have to be so nice to me? If you know what kind of person I am, I swear you'll hate me more than anything in the world. I'm worse than a bully. I'm…I'm a killer._

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"You want to go for ice cream?" Ruka asked, as the two of them walked. A cool breeze blew gently on them but it was still hot. And to Ruka, a mint chocolate ice cream cone would really hit the spot.

"I don't like ice cream"

"It's like you never eat…in school, all you eat is two pieces of defrosted chicken…is defrosted chicken yummy?"

"I don't know"

They came across an ice cream stand.

"Two mint chocolate ice creams please!"

"I don't like ice cream" Hotaru said, tapping Ruka's arm.

"Whatever. I'm just going to get you one"

The vendor gave Ruka two mint chocolate ice creams. Ruka took one and handed the other one to Hotaru who just stared at it.

"You better eat it"

"And why should I?"

"Because…" Ruka said, getting Hotaru's hand (which was colder than the ice cream) and making it hold the ice cream.

"You should enjoy the pleasures of life…even though it's small"

Hotaru stared at the ice cream.

"You're supposed to eat it"

Hotaru licked it. It tasted of mint and dark chocolate combined. It was the tastiest thing she ever ate and liked the icy touch to her tongue. Hotaru started taking big bites of it. It was heavenly.

"See? I told you you'd like it!" Ruka said, as he ate his ice cream as well.

Hotaru just kept on eating her ice cream.

"Look" Ruka said, pointing to the left. Hotaru turned and the two of them saw a public pool. It was a very big pool with a high dive. There was a Jacuzzi as well and everybody seemed like they were having a good time. People splashed and dove. Hotaru was tempted.

"You want to go?"

"But we don't have swimsuits"

"So? We can just dump our feet in"

Hotaru agreed and the two of them entered, Ruka paid for the expenses and the two of them walked around the pool, eating their ice creams.

"Isn't this fun? Walking around the pool with my girl"

"I'm not your girl" Hotaru snapped, chewing on the cone.

"Oh yes you are, Imai! You're my little puppy"

"What the hell?"

She hated puppies.

"Hotaru…puppy..." Ruka said, sticking out his tongue.

**SPLASH**

She couldn't help it. She pushed the boy into the pool. He swam up and glared at her, all drenched.

"What was that for?"

"For calling me a puppy" Hotaru replied emotionlessly.

"Then it's time for you to become a fish!" Ruka yelled and took Hotaru's arm and pulled her into the water.

"I hate you!" Hotaru said, swimming up.

"Just getting my revenge" Ruka said coolly.

Hotaru splashed water on his face.

"You think that will hurt me?" Ruka grinned and splashed water on Hotaru's face as well.

Hotaru liked the cold feeling. Then, she started laughing.

She started laughing. There were butterflies in her stomach. She felt something that was WAY better than depression or angst. And this blonde boy seemed to have given it to her by just buying her an ice cream or dragging her into the pool.

…**HAPPINESS…**

And she adored the feeling.

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"**W**asn't that the best?" Ruka said, as the two of them walked home. The two of them got in trouble for swimming without a proper swimsuit and they were sent out. But that was okay.

Sunset had begun to set in for the night. Hotaru's neighbors had stopped barbequing but the smell of charcoal still swum in the air. Birds began to fly home and the smell of humid air was positively relaxing.

"Yes" Hotaru replied softly. She didn't want to lie. She didn't feel like it.

"I knew you'd say that" Ruka replied, as they stopped at her doorstep.

"Arigatou, Ruka" she whispered.

"That's no problem!" he said, hitting her on the shoulder again. "That's what buddies do, right?"

Hotaru's face fell slighty. "Yes…I guess…"

Buddies? She never thought of the two of them being "buddies".

"I'll be going now. My mom's expecting me to be home for dinner"

"Okay…bye"

"Bye, Imai!!" Ruka said, waving his hand. Then he stopped. "Since we're buddies, can I call you Hotaru-chan?"

Hotaru looked at him warmly. "That's fine with me"

"Okay! Bye Hotaru-chan!"

"Bye, Ruka-kun" she said and shut the door.

Hotaru removed her shoes and sat on her sofa. She turned on her lamp and turned on the TV.

Expecting a good evening show, something else appeared.

"_You useless ignoramus!"_

"What are you talking about? I did nothing wrong"

"_Oh yes you did!!! You went out with a human being!!!" _

"You never told me not to"

"_Because I forgot, dammit! You're not supposed to have ANY KIND of friendly relationship with ANYONE, alright? That stupid little bastard…" _

"He's not a bastard."

"_Oh, so now you're defending him?! You're so pathetic! Oh dear, are you starting to have FEELINGS for him?! Haha. That even makes you more pathetic. I gave up my emotions and now I'm more invincible than any other thing in this universe!" _

Hotaru didn't say anything.

"_I order you to find Kanashimi sooner or later or else I will have to dispose of YOU. Or worse, I'll dispose of your new blonde friend" _

Hotaru glared at him.

"_Hehe. Have you forgotten, Hotaru? I rule you!" _

"You don't. I have a soul"

"_You're getting dumber by the day. You don't have a soul!!! You're my property. You can't have free will!!! Remember, I have complete control of you. You can never love. You can never LIVE." _

And with that, the television turned off by itself.

And Hotaru?

All she did was cry…

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**To be continued…**


	12. Jealousy Under The Stars

…**THANK YOU…**

Vtmgirl, Royal Goddess, lysabelle, Mikan-Natsume, jacksparrow589, jwinkee, Aminatsu032, li'l kitty (anon), may520, MoonLoveAngel, anitsirhc and Snow Charms for reviewing the eleventh chapter.

…**NOTES…**

To those who have gotten confused for the past chapters, everything will be explained soon. Not in this chapter though, but in the next few chapters. Secrets will be revealed. **_This chapter will have an RxMxN pairing._**

_**Where's your soul now? **_

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**Chapter Twelve**

_Jealousy and Stars_

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"_You're getting dumber by the day. You don't have a soul!!! You're my property. You can't have free will!!! Remember, I have complete control of you. You can never love. You can never LIVE." _

_**W**hat does it mean to live anyway?_ Hotaru wondered. She thought she already grasped the idea but it seemed that she can never even give it a try. Hotaru was a puppet. A mere puppet, and she could do nothing more about it. Her master was horrible and she knew it. But as he said, she was not made to have free will. He had control of her. Hotaru agreed.

It's better if she didn't try to live.

She awoke in her bleak living room that reeked of depression.

It was another day filled with miserable opportunities for her to catch her prey.

Hotaru went to the bathroom and washed her face. She went to her room and put on her school uniform. The school uniform had changed due to the summery weather and it was now a white uniform top with the same red ribbon as always with white puffy sleeves. The skirt was black as well and the socks were now ankle-length. Hotaru stared at herself in disgust. She hated white.

She walked out the door and locked it. The air was humid and the sprinklers of her neighbors were on again but the children were asleep and the parents were apparently listening to 80's music in the dining room. Hotaru could hear their voices and she grew of envy.

How lucky it was to be **human. **

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How lucky it was to be a** snail, **Mikan thought as she crouched over a few garden snails in her yard who were doing nothing but eating grass.

"You guys never do anything except eat and sleep. You have it so easy" she whispered.

"Talking to your cousins?"

Mikan stood up and found her most-hated friend Natsume crouching with her.

"You should be careful when you crouch with the itty-bitty skirt of yours, you idiot"

"And why?"

"Because _pandas _don't look good on you" he said, smirking.

"PANDAS? YOU PERVERT!" Mikan screamed, attempting to hit Natsume but he dodged the hit and smirked.

"You're so stupid!" yelled the brunette, flushing into a crimson color. She had never been so humiliated. A boy commenting on her underwear was so embarrassing! Well, he wasn't REALLY a boy. He was a vampire.

"Bye, bye snails!" she said, waving to her slow friends who were now drifting to sleep (or at least she thought so). "I'm going to school!"

Mikan smoothed her skirt and took her bag. "Ja, Natsume-kun!"

"Ja, Panda-Girl!"

"SHUT UP!" Mikan yelled, throwing a muffin at Natsume.

And with that, Mikan's day began.

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**STARS & THE GALAXY**

"Is this a new lesson?" Mikan whispered to Ruka, pointing to the words on the chalkboard. She hadn't been paying attention in class so she wasn't aware of the topics.

"We've been having this lesson since last Wednesday" Ruka whispered back. "Try to pay attention"

"Ok, Ms. Sakura? Can you tell me the definition of a _black hole?"_

Mikan gulped. Black hole? She never heard of such a thing! And what was the definition? This was her consequence for not paying attention in Science more often: Being humiliated in class for the second time of the day.

"Sewaninaru, Ruka-pyon" whispered Mikan

Ruka handed her his notebook and Mikan read it out loud: "Mikan-chan is very pretty…"

"ARGH!" yelled Ruka, grabbing the book from Mikan's grasp. The class was laughing hysterically**. Hotaru paled. **

"Gomen, Ruka-pyon" Mikan said, turning red.

"Ah…that's ok…you should've read this page of my notebook…" Ruka blushed, flipping through his notebook.

"Nogi, Sakura" Mr. Misaki said, walking up to their tables.

"I don't care about your teenage love life! I don't care if it was a joke or not but I'm assigning the two of you an assignment to do a report on Constellations to be submitted Wednesday afternoon" he said, choking.

"Gomenasai, Misaki-sensei!" Ruka and Mikan said in unison.

"Whatever, just do the assignment!" Mr. Misaki said and turned around. The class was snickering sinisterly and Mikan and Ruka couldn't help but sink into the depths of their embarrassment.

As for Hotaru, a stitch from her finger loosened.

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"**H**ow will we do the project?"

"I don't know…internet?"

Mikan, Hotaru and Ruka were walking home from school now. The sky was painted with orangey colors and they savored the freshness of the cool summer afternoon wind.

"Jii-chan scolded me for using the internet to much so I'm forbidden from it…at least in my house"

"Yeah. My mom did the same"

"Why don't you just examine the stars with a simple telescope?" Hotaru suggested.

The three of them stopped walking.

"That's a great idea, Hotaru-chan!" Ruka said, his eyes shining brightly.

"Oh…"

"Yeah! Let's have a slumber party!!" Mikan squealed, dancing around.

"Um, what does that got to do with stars?" Ruka asked, sweatdropping.

"We can have a sleepover under the stars!! It will be so fun!!! We can study while having fun!!" Mikan said, clapping her hands with enthusiasm.

"That's a good idea" Ruka said and turned to Hotaru "What do you think, Hotaru-chan?"

"Yes…that will be fine…but I'm not involved in it…Misaki-sensei said only the two of you…" she said, her face falling a bit.

"Oh don't worry! You can come! That's what buddies, do right?" the blond boy said, grinning.

Hotaru gave a slight smile. "Right"

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**T**he next day, Mikan prepared her yard for the 'camp-out'. She prepared five huge bags of chips and all sorts of wonderful cholesterol-filled goodies. The night was wonderful, the sky was lit up by wonderful stars and the weather was extremely perfect as well. **Nothing could go wrong**.

"What are you doing?" Natsume asked, watching Mikan take out a bag of marshmallows from the pantry.

"I'm having a sleepover"

"Oh. One of those girly stuff where you do each other's toenails and talk about Brad Pitt all night, right?" he scoffed.

"NO. And who's Brad Pitt anyway?" Mikan replied and poured the marshmallows into a bowl. "We won't be doing each other's toenails anyway, we'll be stargazing"

"Stargazing? What the hell?"

"Misaki-sensei assigned us an assignment…since…" Mikan turned pink and smiled. "Because of something in Ruka's notebook"

"What something? A list of drugs?" Natsume said, smirking.

"NO! Something nicer" Mikan said, turning even pinker.

"What's wrong with you? You sound like a cheesy main character of a movie!" Natsume replied, noticing his favorite brunette **drooling. **

"It's none of your business! And you're not allowed to intrude to the slumber party anyway cause only GOOD people are allowed. And I don't want you to go possessing Ruka or Hotaru or else I'll…cook you"

Okay, Mikan knew it was a pathetic threat but who cares?

"Possess Ruka and Hotaru? Why would I do that?"

"Because you are evil!" Mikan said.

Before Natsume could reply: **_Ding Dong! _**

"Oh my! They're here!!" the brunette said, brushing off bread crumbs from her shirt.

"Just go to your room!" Mikan said, pushing Natsume out of the kitchen door.

"Fine, stupid" Natsume said and walked to his room, rejected.

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**N**atsume secretly watched the sleepover from his room.

He watched Ruka set up his telescope and Hotaru help Mikan in preparing the food and the sleeping bags. He didn't know why but he felt extremely jealous that this stupid pig-tailed girl spent so much time with those people.

"Ruka-pyon!! Ruka-pyon!!"

Natsume watched in envy as she grabbed Ruka's arm and asked him in such a…cutesy way to adjust the telescope. What was he now? Chopped liver? He couldn't take it.

He also couldn't take the fact that his mortal enemy was there.

He turned to the window once more and watch in envy. Stupid girl…she made him feel so…wobbly.

Hours passed and Natsume began to feel tired. It was so boring watching their every move. The only thing the three of them were doing was laughing like hell and stargazing. It was so annoying.

Natsume walked out of his room to get a glass of water. Then, he saw Hotaru in the kitchen refilling the marshmallow bowl.

Natsume was about to make a dash for it when Hotaru sighed.

"Don't worry. I don't feel like capturing you right now"

"Oh? What's wrong, Imai?"

"Those two bakas have done nothing for their project except _flirt _with each other. It pisses me off"

"What?"

"Ever since Mikan saw those dumb notes in Ruka's notebook, she never stopped talking to him"

"What did those notes say?"

"**Mikan is so pretty" **

Natsume choked.

"Are you jealous?" Hotaru asked, looking at Natsume with those emotionless eyes.

"Hell no!" Natsume yelled and the two of them looked at the window.

"Look at the way they look at each other. It's disgusting" Hotaru whispered.

"Maybe you're jealous!" Natsume said, folding his arms.

Hotaru sighed. "I'm just so pissed…maybe both of us are jealous?"

Natsume rolled his eyes. "You wish, Imai"

"I wasn't born yesterday. You're into Mikan and you've only known her for a few months"

"STOP IT!" yelled Natsume, turning red.

"So I was right" Hotaru said, walking out of the kitchen. "Don't lie to me, Hyuuga. I know better than you think I do"

Natsume rolled his eyes and took a glass from the cupboard. "Why would I be so into that…**_panda girl?" _**

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"**W**ill you please keep quiet? I'm trying to sleep here" Hotaru said. She had been lying in her sleeping bag for quite sometime and all Ruka and Mikan did was TALK about useless stuff.

"Gomen, Hotaru-chan" Ruka laughed. "Mikan's so funny!"

"If you want to flirt, I suggest you do it somewhere else…somewhere where I won't HEAR it. Don't make googoo eyes at each other, I hate it"

"We're not making googoo eyes at each other!" Mikan said, turning pink.

"Well, it's quite obvious. Now, I'm going to sleep"

"Fine. I will too" Ruka said and he and Mikan slipped into their own sleeping bags and fell asleep.

The snoring began.

Natsume himself couldn't sleep. He hated the fact that Ruka and Mikan were sleeping **_SIDE-BY-SIDE_**. It was torture.

He decided to go to the yard to check them out.

Hotaru was asleep, as well as Ruka and Mikan…

Mikan was curled up like a baby. She looked so cute when she was sleeping. Her eyelashes would flutter like a tired butterfly and she clutched her teddy bear so cutely that Natsume…

_Natsume wished that he was that teddy bear. _

All of a sudden, Mikan grabbed his hand and pulled him closer to her. Natsume turned red and his heart raced faster than he expected. Why did she make him feel this way? It was horrible!!! It was so confusing!! What was happening?

"Teddy…" she whispered and embraced Natsume, she nuzzled her head against his neck. Natsume was in torture. His whole body was red and he couldn't take it.

But fine…

He couldn't help it.

He hugged her back and fell asleep.

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**To be continued… **


	13. Getting Darker

…**THANK YOU…**

Jacksparrow589, cupidsangel, **Aminatsu032**, simplebutspecial, Pink Fire101, MoonLoveAngel, Royal Goddess, **may520**, lysabelle, Typh, Krazy Candy, **manimefrances,** Cuna999, Jenjei Cat, Snow Charms, deynaz, glenda23 & TearsandSorrow for reviewing chapter twelve.

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**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

Getting Darker

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**Morning **arrived.

The birds sang to the soft summer breeze and the sky was as blue as a neat painted canvas. The day was so perfect and Mikan was so engrossed in her beauty sleep that she didn't even notice…

She didn't even notice that a certain someone was nuzzled against her neck and her fingers had been running through his hair all this time. But she didn't pay much attention to it for she enjoyed the feeling of embracing someone. She just couldn't wait to see who it was. Was it…

_**NATSUME**_

No doubt about it, Mikan was **ABSOLUTELY **shocked to see the teenage vampire sleeping soundly beside her. He embraced her so lovingly that Mikan couldn't help but flush into a crimson color. Why? Despite the fact that she wasn't even interested in him, she wanted to remain in his arms for the rest of the morning. It was a beautiful feeling but…

"NATSUME, YOU PERVERT!!!" Mikan screamed, sitting up whilst hitting him with her pillow. Natsume immediately sat up and rubbed his head.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!? NOW NO ONE WILL WANT TO MARRY ME!!" Mikan screamed, her face redder than a tomato.

"Well, no one will want TO – anyway" Natsume replied coolly, blushing slightly. "Who would marry a hag like you?"

"A HOT GUY, that's for sure!" Mikan yelled, thrusting the pillow at him.

"I HATE YOU, NATSUME…YOU…YOU…IDIOT!"

"Whatever" Natsume said, standing up. "It wasn't my fault. You slept walk to my room & then you dragged me here and then I struggled but then I ended up falling asleep"

"YOU'RE SUCH A LIAR!" Mikan screamed.

"Imai…" Nastsume said.

"What?"

Natsume pointed to Hotaru who was being embraced by a sleeping Ruka. They looked so cute. Mikan couldn't help but blush at the adorableness of their position.

"Wow. They're so cute!"

"Humph. She's not as CUTE as you think she is"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing"

"Sigh. I wish someone cared about me…**someone like Ruka**. He's very gentle and he's so polite. Most of the boys I meet are so rude and unkind, I so wish that…well, **I wish I'm actually LOVED by someone**"

Mikan turned to Natsume for his reaction, but he just looked down.

"Natsume-kun?"

"I'm going!" he said, walking back to the house.

"Natsume---

**Damn you Mikan,**

**You already are loved.**

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**Hotaru-chan" **whispered Ruka

Hotaru opened her eyes, coming to find Ruka grinning right in front of her face.

"Wha---

Hotaru realized that they were in an awkward position and she immediately sat up, reddening.

"Gomenasai!" she said, putting her hands on her face.

"Hehe. Don't worry. I kinda enjoyed it" Ruka laughed.

"Shut up" Hotaru said, reddening more.

This feeling was so strange, she felt something beating in her chest. What was it?

"_Oh, so now you're defending him?! You're so pathetic! Oh dear, are you starting to have FEELINGS for him?! Haha. That even makes you more pathetic. I gave up my emotions and now I'm more invincible than any other thing in this universe!"_

"_I order you to find Kanashimi sooner or later or else I will have to dispose of YOU. Or worse, I'll dispose of your new blonde friend"_

Hotaru stood up, remembering what her master demanded. She folded her sleeping bag & sighed.

"Ruka…tell Mikan that I've gone home to run some errands, okay?"

"But what about breakfast?"

"I don't have time for breakfast!" snapped Hotaru and climbed over the gate, full of regret.

Oh how could she pass up a moment like this? A moment drenched with freedom?

Well, her life was much more significant to her. But still…what is a life without freedom?

It's a life that SUCKS

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Hotaru** spent the day moping in the darkness of her house.

Or rather, her little prison.

It wasn't a home anyway. A home is a place that felt warm and safe, a place where your mom would greet you and serve you snacks after school & ask you to talk about your day. A home is where your dad would come home at the wee hours but still make it a point to kiss you good night and a home is where your siblings would rip your homework apart and have you chase them all night because of it. **_It's where you feel LOVED._**

Hotaru knew that her knowledge was growing by the day. And her thirst for freedom was dehydrating every bit of her. She dozed off.

She woke up and looked out the window. Stars glimmered & lit up the sky in such a magnificent way. But Hotaru couldn't stay & admire them; she had a mission to do.

She took out something from her drawer. It was a gold watch with an empty face. She put it around her neck, took a knife and a cut a bit of her skin. Blood trickled down her arm and it dripped onto the watch. The blood turned into numbers.

"With this, I can control time" she whispered. She pressed the side of the watch & then red beams started shooting out of it. She had frozen time.

_Very clever, Hotaru. I'm starting to think you were worth-creating after all. _

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**She** walked through the frozen streets, amused by the frozen people and everything around her. She was the only one walking & she was downright amused.

She stopped by Ruka's house. She climbed over the fence & went inside.

The smell of Ruka's house seemed so different. It smelled of Chicken Teriyaki and rice. It smelled of detergent as well a family couch filled with spilled milk & dog hair. It smelled of crayons and glue…it smelled like home.

Hotaru saw Ruka's mom (who was apparently frozen) cooking something. It was dinner. It smelled tempting and…wait…

She smelled **Kanashimi.**

She followed the smell into Ruka's room. Ruka's room was blue, and it had posters of his favorite bands on the wall. Textbooks and video games were scattered all over the floor as well as some of his sweaters and jackets. It looked so normal, though. Hotaru wanted her room to look like that as well. The only thing that was in her room was her bed. That was all.

There, lying on the futon was Ruka. There was a textbook on his chest and beside him…

Beside him was a white rabbit.

It was Kanashimi.

But the way Ruka held it was so loving that Hotaru felt guilt running down her chest. She didn't want to upset Ruka, no…she didn't. Had he grown to love Kanashimi? It felt quite wrong to take Kanashimi away from his clutches for Kanashimi herself looked like she loved Ruka back.

Hotaru gulped & put her hand's on Kanashimi. It felt so warm.

She took Kanashimi & dashed out the window. As she did, the watch slid from her neck and dropped on Ruka's futon. Kanashimi awoke and started whining. Her white fur turned back into the normal black like it used to be and when she blinked, her eyes turned into buttons once more.

"**USAGI!!!!" **she heard Ruka.

Hotaru gulped. "Gomenasai, Ruka-kun" she whispered and jumped from a street light. She disappeared into the night sky, guilt tearing her apart.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**Ohayo **gozaimasu" said Ruka, trudging into the classroom.

"Daijobou, Ruka-pyon?" Mikan said, as Ruka placed his bag on his desk.

"I'm fine…hey, Hotaru"

"Hi"

"Something's wrong…has anything happened?" Mikan inquired.

"Yeah. Usagi got kidnapped"

"WHAT?!" Mikan exclaimed, her eyes widening.

Hotaru turned white.

Ruka nodded solemnly.

"Are you sure it didn't run away? Animals are like that you know"

"Yes. I found this," Ruka said, taking something from his bag. It was Hotaru's gold watch.

"I think the kidnapper gave it to me in return for Usagi. But I don't want this stupid watch. Look, it doesn't even have numbers and stuff. He's so cheap! I want Usagi! Usagi is more important to me than this watch…"

"Gomenasai, Ruka" Hotaru said

"What are you saying sorry for?"

"Oh…nothing" she sighed & took the watch. "May I see?"

"You can have it!" Ruka yelled. "I hate it"

Hotaru wanted to crumble.

"Anyway, I hear there's a Parade this weekend! Why don't the three of us go? It's going to be super fun! It's a tribute to the beginning of summer! There's going to be lots of activities!" Mikan said, showing Ruka and Hotaru a brochure.

"Sure, it will take my mind off Usagi"

"Ok"

"Great! Come to my house Saturday morning and we can walk over to the parade!" Mikan said, and Narumi-sensei came in.

"Okay, class! Settle down! We have a new lesson!"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"_**Wonderful** job" _

"Thank you master"

"_You were able to find Kanashimi. Where did you find her?" _

"She was with my friend"

"_Damn it! It's that stupid blonde friend of yours again, right?" _

"Yes"

"_Well, fine. At least you found her. She was in disguise mode, right?" _

"I told her that every time she gets lost, she has to change into a normal rabbit"

"_That's fine with me… now, since you have Kanashimi back you can possess people so you can catch that stupid nuisance" _

"But I've ran out of victims"

"_I've been to Nagoya yesterday. I was in disguise as a hotdog vendor and I happened to set my eye upon this lovely brunette" _

"Oh really?"

"_Yes. She's your friend" _

Hotaru gulped. "How do you know?"

"_Well, DUH! I see her with you ALL the time" _

A hologram appeared. It was…

"You're talking about **Mikan**?"

"_Yes. Her stupidity is out of the charts. She is so naïve that she doesn't even sense your powers despite the fact that she is living with our prey" _

"But I can't possibly…"

"_Of course, my dear Hotaru! You can't possibly hurt you're bestest friend" _Hotaru's master scoffed.

Before Hotaru could respond, her master interrupted once more.

"_I've taken the liberty to possess her myself. Now all you have to do is activate the pin that I've inserted into her soul"_

"You…WHAT?!"

"_Yes. So use Kana's ears as a controller, once you push her ears like a joystick – the pin will be activated" _

"But…"

"_No buts! Now, good night – Hotaru. I'll be expecting a great work from you" _

"But…"

Her master disappeared.

**The days seem to be getting darker**

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**To be continued…**

…**NOTES…**

I'll probably be updating faster this time because summer vacation has started. Hehe! Please review


	14. A Disaster

…**THANK YOU…**

Pink Fire101, XxXMEOWxMeWxx, Star Sapphirex, Ai-chan13, SnowCharms, simplebutspecial, Umbreon Rawks, Cuna999, Chokoreeto-Hime, kagome's heart102, **may520**, TearsandSorrow, KrazyCandy, **Aminatsu032**, MoonLove Angel, Royal Goddess, lysabelle,jacksparrow589 & glenda23 for reviewing Chapter 13

**Where's your soul now? **

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Chapter Fourteen**

A Disaster

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**The **weekend arrived.

"OHAYOGOZAIMASU!!!!" Mikan yelled, running to the dining room in her purple pajamas. She was extremely excited for today was the Parade & Festival in celebration of the summer holidays. Mikan twirled around the room with much joy and finally sat down, panting.

"Are you going with your friends, Mikan?" Jii-chan asked, raising his head from the morning paper.

"Yeah! Ruka-pyon & Hotaru-chan are going!" she replied, taking a helping of bacon & eggs.

"Why don't you take Natsume-kun with you?"

Natsume looked at her from across the table.

"He might piss me off with one of his **dirty little tricks**" Mikan replied, glaring at him.

"I told you! I'm not responsible for it!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…whatever…" the brunette said, rolling her eyes. "Just don't go hurting Hotaru-chan & Ruka-pyon"

"What are you kids talking about?" inquired Jii-chan who felt out of place.

"Oh nothing jii-chan!" Mikan said, her eyes sparkling with innocence and she swallowed a piece of bacon.

"OUCH!" she yelled, touching her chest.

"Daijobou?" Jii-chan said, putting down the paper.

Mikan had no idea why, but there was a burning sensation in the middle of her chest, she coughed several times for she had hardship breathing all of a sudden. Then, the painful sensation ceased.

"I'm fine" she coughed.

Natsume looked at her with much concern. He **DEFINITELY **knew that Mikan WASN'T fine.

He, himself had a feeling that something bad was going to happen today.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**Cough! **Itold you!! You're not coming! Cough" Mikan said, as she and Natsume walked towards Hotaru's house.

"I _have _to, you stubborn pig!" he replied.

"To do what? There's no need or a vampire to come to a parade & festival you know! Unless you want to suck someone's blood or something & if I'm right about that, I'm not…cough…letting you!!!"

"God, Mikan!! Why are you always accusing me??"

"Because, Natsume…it's obvious! Ever since you came, these weird paranormal things have been occurring so stop denying it! Cough!! Cough!!"

"Are you sick or something? You've been coughing since this morning!"

"I don't know! I've been feeling this weird burning sensation in my chest as if something's poking through my heart since this morning…but whatever…I'll see a doctor tomorrow"

They arrived at Hotaru's doorstep. Mikan rang the doorbell.

**DING DONG**

Hotaru answered the door. She wore a red shirt paired with a black skirt and some sneakers. Her hair was clipped and she clutched a red soft backpack with that stuffed toy rabbit thing hanging on the strap.

"Ohayo…cough…gozamaisu…" Mikan said and put her hand on her throat. "Ugh. My throat's so painful because of this dumb coughing…"

"The idiot's been feeling weird since this morning. **_I wonder who's responsible for it" _**Natsume said to Hotaru, looking at her in the eye.

"Stop looking at me like that" Hotaru said, with a hint of guilt in her tone.

"Cough…Anyway, guys…Ruka sent me a text earlier saying that he'll just meet us in the Parade so we don't have to drop by his house. Let's go!" Mikan smiled, and walked off.

"Imai…if you hurt her I swear I'll darken your days forever" Natsume whispered.

"That won't be necessary," Hotaru sighed.

"It is already darkened"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**The **three of them got on a bus to go to the Summer Festival Parade.

Natsume was awfully worried for Mikan for she wouldn't stop coughing. Hotaru seemed rigid & her face was painted with much guilt since Natsume would glare at her every so often and Hotaru would do nothing but shrug.

"My throat is so painful…" Mikan said, her voice hoarse.

"Shut up or it'll get worse" Natsume replied, folding his arms.

What a wrong time for Mikan to get 'sick'. It was the Summer Festival Parade and she would wait for it every year. The floaters were splendid & their acrobatics were wonderful. Each year seemed to get better & brighter and more features would be added to the parade. And at seven in the evening, there would be a spectacular display of colorful fireworks that Mikan loved to death.

Apparently, she wouldn't be able to appreciate that much because of her condition at the moment.

"How many minutes until we get there?" Hotaru inquired softly.

"Twenty" Mikan replied. "You'll enjoy it, Hotaru-chan. There are so much fun things to…cough!"

"Do you want to go back home?" Natsume asked.

"Of course not!" Mikan replied. "I always see the parade every year and I'm not letting some stupid cough stop me"

Mikan yawned. "Just…just wake me up when we get there, ok?"

And with that, she leaned her head against Natsume's shoulder and welcomed herself to sleep.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**When **Mikan awoke, she suddenly felt much better.

She felt refreshed & hydrated. The cough had ceased and the burning sensation had disappeared. Oh, all she needed was a nap, that's all! How silly she was to worry about it! Now she had no trouble in enjoying the parade. It was going to be fine.

"Feeling better?" Hotaru asked, from the other bus seat.

"Yeah! I don't feel that sick anymore"

Hotaru gave a smile. "That's good"

"Natsume-kun…daijobou?" Mikan asked, turning to her right. Natsume was leaning on the windowsill, asleep.

"Hehe. He's asleep" she giggled.

"You two were cuddled up awhile ago" Hotaru said emotionlessly.

Mikan blushed. "W-were we?"

The bus came to a stop. They had arrived.

"We're here!!!" she screeched, standing up and twirling.

"Ugh. The idiot's back to her normal self!" Natsume said, stretching. He sat up and looked out the window.

The parade…

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**The **parade was as wonderful as Mikan described it to be, or even more.

Gigantic floaters & balloons paraded through the crowd of squealing people.

Elephants in costumes and dancing monkeys walked through as well as a marching band playing enthusiastic songs.

Acrobats and contortionists slipped in with their beaded leotards. They twirled in with vivid colored ribbons, magically prancing with flaming hula hoops. Flamenco dancers with thick makeup came, dancing with their partners in such grace and dexterity.

Girls in beautifully printed kimonos came in, stiff but still graceful and they danced to instrumental Japanese music; waving their colorful fans.

Young children came running dressed as folklore Japanese characters that symbolized Japan's culture. Oh, how wonderful the parade was! Mikan's eyes glimmered and shined.

"Isn't it great, Natsume-kun?" she said, tugging Natsume's sleeve.

The auburn-eyed boy just shrugged. "Whatever"

"Mikan-chan!"

Mikan turned around, it was Ruka.

"Gomen, if I'm late!! I had to do last-minute chores!"

"That's ok!" Mikan said, grabbing Ruka's arm. "Isn't it beautiful, Ruka-pyon?"

"Yup. Better than last year, that's for sure!"

"Let's watch the fireworks together, ne?"

Natsume turned green with envy.

"That's fine with me!!!"

Ruka looked around for awhile, noticing that Hotaru was nowhere to be found.

"Anou…Mikan-chan, where's Hotaru-chan?"

Mikan looked around. "I have no idea! She must've wandered off somewhere"

"I'll look for her!" Ruka said to Mikan and ran off.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"_You came to see the parade as well, Hotaru?" _

"Master…"

"_Ha! That insolent human girl came and told you: Oh, Hotaru-chan! Let's go see the Summer Parade together and we can look at the fireworks and dance to the rhythm of stupid Japanese music!!!" _

"Well…"

"_Stupid Summer Festivals!!!" _yelled Hotaru's master. _"Useless human entertainment"_

"It looks quite lively though"

"_Don't you dare disagree with me, Hotaru!" _

"Gomenasai"

"_So, have you activated it?" _

"Activated what?"

"_You stupid girl! Activated the pin!!!" _

"Master, I believe this isn't the right time…"

"_You believe! It's not YOU BELIEVE…You cannot make your own decisions you little stupid runt! You have to follow my damn orders!!!" _

"Master, she's having such a good time…and Natsume as well…"

"_So what?! This is the perfect time, you nincompoop! Get Kanashimi right now and activate it!" _

"Master…"

"_DO IT OR DIE!!!!" _

"Hotaru-chan?"

Hotaru turned around and found Ruka standing behind her.

"What are you doing in this alley?"

"Tying my shoelace!" Hotaru responded.

"Well, it SURE is a funny place to tie your shoelace"

Hotaru just gave a nervous smile. "Won't you come with us?" Ruka asked.

"I'll catch up with you later…"

"Nah. I'll wait for you…"

"_DO IT OR DIE!!!" _

"Did you hear something?" Ruka said, turning to Hotaru.

Hotaru shook her head, and as if a puppet on a string – she took out her stuffed rabbit from her bag.

"Ruka-kun…" Hotaru said, cold sweat dripping from her forehead.

"Yeah?"

"Tell Mikan…I'm sorry!" she whispered and pushed Kanashimi's ears foreword like a controller.

"What are you talking about?"

The sky darkened.

Rain began to fall.

"Hotaru-chan! We have to get inside!! It's raining!!"

"Leave me here, Ruka!! Just…tell Mikan I'm sorry!!"

"What for?? You didn't do anything!!"

Hotaru shook her head. "I can't tell you why…"

**It begins now…**

"MIKAN!!!!!" 

"Wasn't that Natsume's voice?!" Ruka said, his voice drenched with confusion.

Hotaru shook her head once more. "I…"

With that, she ran out of the alley and disappeared into the frenzied crowd.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_What's happening? _Mikan thought. Her mind was in turmoil as she pinned Natsume to the ground.

_Everything was going well until the burning sensation returned…and…_

"HELP!" Mikan yelled, but the crowd was too busy running to get to dry ground.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING MIKAN!??!" Natsume yelled.

He was pinned to the ground and Mikan had her pocket knife against his throat.

"I DON'T KNOW!!!" Mikan said, tears streaming down my eyes. "WHY ARE YOU POSESSING ME, NATSUME-KUN?!?!"

"I'M NOT…IT'S HO---

"WHO IS IT?! I'M SO CONFUSED!!!"

"I CAN'T TELL YOU!!!!"

Her eyes were now generous in tears.

"NATSUME, IM GOING TO HURT YOU!!!!"

"TRY TO FIGHT IT!!!"

"I'M NOT STRONG ENOUGH…"

"DAMN YOU, MIKAN…UGH…"

The pocket knife moved to the side of his neck, ready to cut it.

"I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU, NATSUME!!"

"THEN DON'T, MORON!!!"

She had an intense headache and that burning sensation was spreading throughout her body. What was happening? She couldn't think for that sensation had reached her head and was telling her to kill Natsume. But she didn't want to!! She couldn't!!!!

And she won't let whoever is poisoning her soul to get through to her.

Mikan took her own hand, whilst cutting her own skin. Blood trickled down her hand and she let go of the pocket knife. It was kicked by the screaming crowd.

"Get it out of me, Natsume" she whispered. "It's hurting me…"

Mikan started coughing once more. He sensed no power coming from her heart like it would with the other victims, but instead it had risen to her throat. What could he possibly do? The power was unbelievable.

Natsume decided.

He took Mikan by the shoulders and dragged her lips into his. Yes, dear reader. He dragged her into a kiss.

Mikan turned red and fell to the floor, unconcious. Natsume himself was redder than ever but it was the only possible way he could think of into getting the pin out.

He spat out the pin from his mouth and sighed.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Sunset…**

Mikan opened her eyes and found herself lying on the top of a building, with Natsume's cape on top of her.

She felt weary, her hand was painful. She looked at it and found that it was bandaged with his sleeve.

The Parade was a disaster. She looked below and saw confetti and balloons lying on the pavement and street cleaners sweeping them away.

Oh, this day was so…

"Awake now?"

Mikan turned around and saw Natsume sitting on the edge of the building.

"Natsume-kun…gomenasai…"

"Whatever. Everyone tries to kill me, so it's no big deal…"

"I didn't expect it to happen so…"

"Just…keep quiet ok?"

"Very well"

"The Parade was a disaster"

"Obviously. I wonder if they'll postpone the fireworks"

"Yeah they did…I heard the parade manager talking to some employees"

"Oh…I was…I was looking forward to it"

Natsume took the pin out of his pocket.

"What's that?"

"It's the thing that told you to kill me"

"WHAT? That small thing?"

"Yep…but it can have good uses, you know. Like this…" he said, removing the head of the pin.

"What are you going to do with it?"

He threw the head of the pin into the sky and it burst into colorful lights.

"It's so beautiful!!!"

"They're fireworks of souls"

"Hey, Natsume-kun...how did you get that thing out from me anyway?"

Natsume sighed. _She didn't remember, did she? Oh well..._

"Heh. It's better if you not know"

"But..."

"Keep quiet. I'm watching" he said, turning back to the fireworks.

Yes. It was much better if she did not know about how he got the pin out of her.

Maybe it would be better if they would savor the moment.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**TO BE CONTINUED**

**...Notes...**

MORE SECRETS WILL BE REVEALED IN THE FOLLOWING CHAPS! 3


	15. Dreams

…**.THANK YOU…**

**Crazy-baka14,** Pink Fire101, **may520**, SnowCharms, **jwinkee, littledoggy**, Ikiru Ainoko, MoonLoveAngel, kagome's heart102, Chokoreeto-Hime, xxMEOWxMEWxX, cupidsangel, jack sparrow589, Royal Goddess, li'l kitty, **Aminatsu032,** simplebutspecial, cute0anime0addict for reviewing the fourteenth chapter.

…**DISCLAIMER…**

I wish I owned GA but I don't.

_**Where's your soul now? **_

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Chapter Fifteen**

Dreams

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_**He** took Mikan by the shoulders and dragged her lips into his. Yes, dear reader. He dragged her into a kiss._

"Natsume-kun? Daijobou?"

Natsume looked up and found Mikan smiling at him.

"Pancakes again" she murmured softly as she put a tray of delicious looking pancakes in front of him.

Natsume simply gazed at Mikan with a lost expression pasted onto his face.

"Natsume-kun, you've been acting weird since yesterday… are you sure I didn't hurt you?"

"Stop acting like you care about me" Natsume grunted, folding his arms. "Shouldn't you be worrying about that?" Natsume said, pointing to Mikan's left hand which was bandaged up. It was a little token from yesterday's incident when she forcibly cut herself to stop herself from hurting Natsume.

"It doesn't hurt anymore. Besides, I'm not the one who was almost murdered right?" Mikan smiled, with a hint of guilt in her tone. She felt really bad for having to be possessed just like that. She felt weak and she almost hurt Natsume.

She knew that she didn't like Natsume at all but attempting to kill him? She felt horrible.

"Don't blame yourself for yesterday, you stupid girl. Look, I'm still in one piece so that proves I'm still alive"

"But still, Natsume…the thought of having to **almost **kill you is just terrible"

"Hn…I'm used to weird possessed people chasing after me anyway. No big deal"

"It's just that I don't want to hurt you…that's all. Even though you do piss me off sometimes, you don't have the right to be killed just like that"

Natsume rolled his eyes. "Stop acting all cheesy, ok?"

Mikan stood up and smoothed her skirt. "Fine…I'm off to school then…ja, Natsume-kun!"

Natsume nodded and watched Mikan leave the guest room. He then did what he would always do whenever he fell bored. Toss the pancakes back and forth.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**TODAY'S ABSENTEES**

1.) Imai Hotaru

"Psst…"

Mikan turned around. "What?"

"Why is Hotaru-chan absent?" Ruka whispered.

Mikan shrugged. "I don't know. I thought you knew"

Ruka shook his head. "Nope"

"It's not like her to be absent, you know. From the first day of classes she's been present"

"Maybe she got sick or something"

"I doubt it," Ruka replied. "She probably ditched school"

"Ditched school? Come on! Knowing Hotaru-chan, she would never ditch school" Mikan laughed and turned her back.

"Come to think of it, she's been acting kinda weird lately"

"Weird? What do you mean? I don't notice anything about her that's **weird" **

"I don't know but in the parade, she told me something really strange"

"What's that?"

"She told me to tell you that she's sorry"

"Sorry? Sorry for what? She didn't do anything to me!!"

"I don't know either but I think Hotaru-chan is hiding a very **BIG** secret from us"

"But if she never mentioned it that means she doesn't want us to know. It's probably too personal"

"Come on! We'd understand!"

"Ruka-pyon, sensei is eyeing us right now. Let's talk later, ok?"

"Fine" Ruka replied, and sat back to copy the notes that were written on the chalkboard.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**The **day passed like a blur. There were quizzes…homework…more quizzes…and more homework. Mikan spent the whole day daydreaming about ice cream sundaes and pizza while staring at the window and counting the raindrops that fell on the windowpane.

Mikan was so bored that she lay her head on her table and fell asleep.

_Mikan found herself in a dark place, holding Natsume in her arms. _

"_Natsume-kun!!Wake up!!" _

"_Congratulations, moron…your wish came true...I got it back…" _

"_That's good…but why are you so weak?" _

"_It's overwhelming, I guess. My body's not used to it, I think this is the possible end of me…" _

"_But…why?! Natsume!! You're lying!!" _

_Natsume shook his head. "I have something to tell you…"_

"_What?" _

"_I…_

"NATSUME!"

Mikan opened her eyes and found the whole class laughing hysterically. Mikan straightened her back and looked around, Serina-sensei was giving her a _Mikan-you-haven't-been-doing-well- in- my-class_ look.

"Gomen…" Mikan said, smiling nervously and hiding her head in between the pages of her textbook.

_What was the dream? _Mikan wondered, staring at the window once more.

"Hey, are you ok?"

"I'm fine but I had a weird dream…"

"About your cousin?"

"Cousin?"

"Natsume-kun…he's your cousin right?"

"Oh…yeah…" Mikan said and turned her back. She looked out the window once more and saw a silhouette of a boy near the sakura tree down there. But she didn't spend time wondering who he was for she didn't want to get in trouble again.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**She **walked home, wondering about what that dream meant.

It was strange. She was holding Natsume in her arms and he was covered in bruises and scratches, he was clinging onto her arm and tears were rolling down his cheeks. There was a concerned expression plastered on her own face as well and she was wounded too. It looked like it had been raining for they were soaking wet but Mikan couldn't grasp where the setting was for it was really dark.

Mikan took out the keys to her house and unlocked the door. Natsume was there, watching TV (specifically the news)

"_An unidentified girl was seen wandering the streets of Kyoto late this morning…" _

Natsume shut off the TV. "What's up? You have a dumb look on your face"

"I…I had the weirdest dream…"

"What was it?"

"It was about you & I"

"Yuck!"

"Well, we were in this dark place and you were in my arms and both of us were covered in wounds and it looked like we had minor injuries, you were talking about this thing that my wish came true and you got it back. I don't know what you got back but you just said it and anyway, you said that THING was overwhelming and it's the end of you...then you were going to tell me something but then I woke up…"

"What a stupid dream…" Natsume said, but he looked quite shocked at what Mikan's dream was.

"I don't think it's stupid…I think it's scary!" Mikan said, her voice quivering.

"Why? There were no ghosts or zombies or whatever"

"I don't want you to **die, **Natsume-kun!" Mikan said, throwing herself at Natsume who was shocked himself.

She embraced Natsume so tight and tears wet his shirt. Natsume froze and his cheeks flushed into a scarlet color as Mikan cried on his chest.

"In my dream…you were dying…but…I…" Mikan lifted her head, her eyes pink with tears.

"You're one of my best friends Natsume-kun…and the thought of having you dying is…horrible. Even though you possess people, I still care about you. I care about SO much!"

Natsume ran his fingers through Mikan's hair and sighed. _What the hell was this girl thinking?_

"I don't want to have dreams like that anymore, Natsume-kun. Because it scared me to death…I don't know if it's a prediction but whether it's fact or it's fiction…I don't want to relive that dream because…Natsume-kun…I don't want to see you suffer"

Mikan rubbed her eyes. "It makes me sad"

"Obviously. And it makes you even uglier" Natsume smirked.

"You're very important to me, Natsume-kun…even though you possess people…even though you're a vampire…even though you hate me sometimes and stuff…"

Before Natsume could reply, Mikan's cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Mikan, it's jii-chan"

"Oh…hi, jii-chan!"

"Listen, I'll be coming home late tonight since I have a very important meeting. I'm not sure if there's any more food in the refrigerator left but I left money in my room for you to go grocery shopping, ok?"

"Ok, grandpa!"

"Anyway, take care! Bye! Love you!"

"Love you too, jii-chan!"

Mikan closed her cell phone and walked to the refrigerator. There was chicken but Mikan hated chicken so she decided to go shopping.

"Anyway, Natsume-kun…I have to go shopping for our dinner so…I'll see you later"

Natsume nodded and settled on the couch once more as Mikan walked to grandpa's room to get money.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Mikan **had no idea why she had this warm feeling for Natsume. He had grown to be very important to her, actually. And even though the thought of him possessing her friends lingered in her mind, she still cared about him so much and made her feel happy.

She got a shopping cart and went shopping.

"I think I'll make pasta tonight…" she said and went to the pasta section.

Her favorite shape of pasta was in the upper shelf and she experienced much difficulty in getting it. She jumped and hopped, but no success until someone got it for her.

"Arigato!" Mikan said, taking the pack of pasta. She looked to her right and saw a boy smiling at her. He had auburn hair and was smiling warmly at her.

"My pleasure" he said.

_Wow! What a cute guy! _Mikan thought, her heart taking off.

"Arigato…" she said again. _Gosh, I'm beginning to sound stupid! _

"I'm glad to help cute girls like you" he said.

Mikan looked at his cart and saw lots of defrosted chickens.

"You're really into chicken" she smiled.

"Haha! Yeah. My favorite food!"

"Just like my friend Hotaru-chan…" Mikan laughed.

"Really? That's good to hear that there's another person out there…**just like me" **

Mikan gulped. He was starting to get a little freaky.

"Anyway, I better get going now" he said, turning around. "What's your name?"

"Mikan Sakura. I study in Junkuji High School, it's a few blocks away from here"

The guy nodded. "I see"

"What's your name?" Mikan asked.

He simply smirked and walked away.

Mikan sweat dropped. "Okay…that was really weird…"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**Spaghetti?" **

"Yup!" Mikan said to Natsume who was staring at the cooking pasta as Mikan readied the tomato sauce.

"Then I go better pray if it's your cooking" he said, turning around.

"Stupid" the brunette said, sticking out her tongue.

**DING DONG**

"Can you answer that for me, Natsume-kun?" Mikan asked, pointing to the door.

Natsume simply shrugged and walked to the door. There was nobody except a bouquet of dandelions.

The dark-haired boy picked it up and thrust it at Mikan. "Flowers"

"For me?" Mikan grinned. She looked at the note which was attached to it.

_**To Mikan **_

_**Hope you like dandelions. **_

_**-Your secret admirer**_

"Oh my God!!! I have a secret admirer!!" Mikan said, taking the flowers.

"Smell it!" she said, throwing it to Natsume's nose.

"Smells like defrosted chicken" he replied and then froze.

"You're so silly! How can dandelions smell like defrosted chicken?" Mikan asked, giving a laugh. "Are you ok?"

Natsume blinked. "Yeah. I'm fine"

"I wish my _secret admirer _is cute!!" the brunette said, getting a vase from the lower cupboard. "It will be like **a dream come true**"

"Dream come true?" Natsume said, choking. He suddenly remembered Mikan's dream awhile ago.

"YUP…a dream come true!!" she said, dancing around. "Why what's wrong?"

"NOTHING!! I'm fine!" Natsume yelled and sat on the counter. "Stupid girl"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"_Natsume-kun!!Wake up!!" _

"_Congratulations, moron…your wish came true...I got it back…" _

"_That's good…but why are you so weak?" _

"_It's overwhelming, I guess. My body's not used to it, I think this is the possible end of me…" _

Mikan sat up from bed, her body drenched in sweat. "That dream…" she said, rubbing her eyes which were now purely abundant in tears.

She opened the lights and knocked on Natsume's door. No answer.

Mikan opened the door and found Natsume sleeping soundly. She shook him.

"What?" he said, sitting up whilst rubbing his eyes.

Mikan embraced Natsume. "Natsume-kun, promise me you won't die!!"

"Ugh. You're acting all stupid again…"

"No!! I had that dream again!!"

"Oh…"

Mikan put her hands on Natsume's cheeks. "Don't die okay? Promise me?"

Natsume sighed. "Ok, I won't"

Mikan gave a smile and put her arms around Natsume. "Arigato, Natsume-kun"

Natsume nodded and pulled away from the hug. "No problem, dummy" he said and lay down. "Good night"

Mikan sat up and nodded as well. "Good night, Natsume-kun!"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**OHAYO!!!" **

"Ohayo gozaimasu" Mikan's classmates said in unison.

"I hear we're getting a new classmate today" Ruka said, lifting his head from a new book he borrowed.

"Really?" Mikan said, removing her school supplies from her bag.

"Yeah…Iinchou said that he overheard the teachers talking about a new kid joining us this semester"

"That's so cool…oh…what are you reading?"

Ruka showed the book to Mikan.

**A Really Helpful Book**

It's helpful! Please read!

"That's a really weird book"

"It was a really tiny book I found in the library…it was torn and stuff but I figured…why not?"

"Um…ok" Mikan said, sweat dropping

Narumi-sensei came into the classroom. "Okay, class! Settle down!! We've got a hectic schedule ahead of us! Projects…projects…oh, and we have a new classmate to join us!"

"I told you" Ruka whispered to Mikan as they took their seats.

Narumi-sensei took a chalk and scribbled his name on the board:

**KAITO **

"Sensei! What's his family name?'

Narumi-sensei shrugged. "He didn't specify it in his form but he had an outstanding IQ that we just had to accept him"

"Wow" Mikan muttered. Narumi-sensei walked out the door and brought the new student in.

"Ohayo gozaimasu. My name is Kaito"

"OH MY GOD!! IT'S THE BOY FROM THE GROCERY!!!"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**To be continued… **


	16. The New Kid

…**THANK YOU…**

**may520, Aminatsu032, jwinkee**, cute0anime0addict, Umbreon-Rawks, jacksparrow589. Chokoreeto-Hime, Pink Fire101, XxMEOWxMeWxX, Star Sapphirex,kagome's heart102, MoonLoveAngel, SnowCharms, **Crazy-Baka14,** simplebutspecial for reviewing the fifteenth chapter.

…**NOTES…**

Haha! I can't stop updating _When Darkness Falls. _Anyway, apparently some of you are not familiar with Kaito. I'll fill you guys in with his 'profile'.

…**ALL ABOUT KAITO…**

_Family Name_: It depends on my fanfic. In my fanfic "My Favorite Loser" he played the brother of Natsume which made his family name "Hyuuga"

_Age: _around the ages of Mikan's batch.

_Hair color: _Auburn/Red

_Eye Color: _Turquoise

(Too bad his personality doesn't match his looks!)

_Hobbies: _Defrosted Chicken

_Fanfics he appeared in: _My Favorite Loser, Blind Hope, My Boyfriend's Assassin & in this fanfic!

He's very much in love with defrosted chicken. He's OBSESSED.

To **Chokoreeto-Hime:** Yes, I got the title of "A Very Helpful Book" from the movie "Mirror Mask". I love that movie. Too bad I don't have the book, it was written by Neil Gaiman. Hehe! I suggest to all of you who are reading this now that you watch this movie or read the book. I loved it!

Ok, I'll stop talking now and get on with the chapter.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Chapter Sixteen**

**The New Kid**

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"OH MY GOD!! IT'S THE BOY FROM THE GROCERY!!!"

Mikan put her hand over her lips and gave a sheepish smile. "Gomenasai"

"Anyway, Kaito will be joining us from now on and hopefully after the summer break…am I right?" Narumi-sensei said, turning to the boy.

"Oh yes, sir. I'm going to be here for a **long time" **Kaito replied.

"Why don't you take that empty seat over there?" Narumi-sensei said, pointing to the extra seat that had just been placed that certain morning behind Ruka.

"Arigato" Kaito said, and walked over here.

It was like a dream. Kaito was so good looking. All the girls were smitten by his boyish charm, the way his fly-away auburn hair would flip as he walked and how his stunning turquoise eyes mesmerized them so. All the girls seemed to be floating on a cloud for seeing someone who looked as angelic yet manly as Kaito was like a dream come true. It was wonderful. It was like he brought perfection into the class. They loved him immediately.

"Hi Mikan" Kaito said, giving a smile.

Mikan's heart couldn't help but take off. His face looked so pure that it looked like it had been carved by angels. He had a peaceful smile and his eyes were so dazzling that Mikan wanted to sink into her chair and melt away.

"You two know each other?" Ruka said, turning to Kaito who was now taking out his school supplies.

"Yeah! We met at the grocery yesterday…how come you didn't tell me you were enrolling here?" Mikan whispered.

"I don't give information to people just like that. After all, they might come out and get you"

Ruka laughed. "My name is Nogi Ruka"

Kaito smiled. "Nice to meet you. Oh, who's your seatmate?" he asked, pointing to the empty chair beside Ruka.

"Imai Hotaru-chan. Apparently; she's absent **again" **Ruka responded then turned to Mikan.

"I called her house last night and nobody answered"

"Hotaru-chan lives alone remember? Her parents are working abroad so she probably was out when you called"

"This Imai girl seems very important to you guys" Kaito said dryly.

"Huh? Oh…yeah, she's our best friend" Mikan responded.

"She's…she's very important to me…um…us" Ruka said, turning slightly pink.

"I hope she's alright" Kaito injected.

Mikan gave a grin. Oh, he was so nice! For a new student, he seemed to blend in with the crowd very well. He was sociable, friendly, not to mention CUTE and Narumi-sensei said he was smart…it was like he came with the whole package. It was like…he was perfect.

"Kaito-kun, why don't you eat with us?" Mikan said.

"Thanks! Being a new student, it's hard finding people to eat with so…thanks! I will!"

Ruka grinned. _Wait till Hotaru-chan meets this guy, I'm sure she'll like him _he thought and then fished out the "A Really Helpful Book" from his pocket to save himself from boredom. He opened the first page and it said:

**Think about the people you have met**

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**The **day passed so quickly but it was so wonderful. Kaito was a comedian himself and he had outstanding grades. He was like a wonder. Everything about him seemed so wonderful and Mikan couldn't make out any defects. He wasn't annoying and he wasn't a blowhard, he wasn't selfish and he wasn't mean. It was like every side of him contained something good and great.

"So where are you from, Kaito-kun?" Mikan inquired, as the three of them walked home.

"Me? I'm from Kyoto" Kaito replied with a hint of comfort in his tone.

"Kyoto, huh? Hotaru-chan is from there too"

"Really? Maybe I've seen her somewhere before…"

"Yeah! And also my good friend, Natsume-kun!"

"I thought he was your cousin"

"Oh right! Cousin"

"I think I've heard his name before" Kaito said softly

"Really? That's great! Maybe you should come to the house sometime to get to know him!! He's really…"

Mikan stopped walking and her cheeks turned slight pink. "He's really…an amazing person…"

"Seems like he's very important to you, Mikan-chan" Kaito said

Mikan blushed even harder. "Well, I do…care about him…"

"Here's my house now," Ruka said as they stopped by his house. "I'll see you guys tomorrow. Bye!"

"Bye, Ruka-pyon!"

"See you, Ruka!"

They waited for Ruka to enter his house and then they started walking once more. All of a sudden, it began to rain or rather, drizzle. The sky darkened a bit and there was a bit wind. The two ran under a tree for shelter.

"Hahaha!! I love the rain!" Mikan laughed, as the two of them watched the rain splash on the pavement.

"Me too" Kaito said and turned to Mikan, he put both of his arms beside Mikan's shoulders – as if locking her into the tree. He smiled slyly.

"Kaito-kun…what are you doing?"

"You're very interesting, Mikan-chan…" he said and put his finger on her lips. "I want to…"

"OI!" yelled a familiar voice, and the bearer of that voice jumped from the tree.

"She's not worth harassing"

"N-Natsume-kun!"

Natsume put his hand on Mikan's head. "So keep your hands off her", he murmured so softly that neither of the two could hear.

"I'm sorry, are you her boyfriend?"

Mikan turned red. "Ah…no! He's just a good friend of mine, **Kaito-kun**"

"Kaito?" Natsume said, gulping.

"Yes, and who might you be?"

"Who says I should tell you?" Natsume grunted. "Let's go, stupid"

"Ah…Natsume-kun! Wait!" Mikan said, running towards Natsume. "See you tomorrow, Kaito-kun!"

Kaito turned his back and snickered softly. "You were hardly recognizable, Natsume-kun"

He looked back and smiled slyly. "I better be careful"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**I** don't want you near that guy!" Natsume yelled from the living room as Mikan prepared dinner.

"And why not? He's a very kind person and he's funny, charming, witty, cute…"

"Ugh. Just don't go near him, ok?"

"Since when did you become the boss of me?" Mikan grunted, as she washed the lettuce leaves thoroughly.

"Since…since…just shut up!" Natsume said and made himself comfortable on the couch.

"At least he's nicer than you!" the brunette shouted.

"Blah blah blah…I'm not listening to you!" Natsume yelled back.

Mikan rolled her eyes and suddenly the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"_Mikan-chan, it's Ruka… I'm very worried about Hotaru-chan…" _

"Why? She's not home when you called?"

"_She programmed an answering machine…"_

"What did the answering machine say?"

"_Hear for yourself. I have to go now, I'm going to eat dinner!" _

"Ok bye!"

Mikan dialed Hotaru's number.

"_Hello, it's Hotaru. I'm not home right now, well…I'm not sure if I'll ever be home. Please leave a message after the beep. Thank you…BEEEEEEPPPPPPPP" _

Mikan gulped and put down the phone. Hotaru's absences were more serious than she thought. Hotaru's not sure if she'll ever be home? What does that mean?

**BOOGSH. **

"WHAT THE HELL!" Natsume yelled.

Mikan ran out of the kitchen and found the flower vase broken, leaving shards of glass scattered on the floor and water splashed all over the carpet. And there, strangling Natsume were the dandelions which have multiplied by probably a million and were now squeezing Natsume to death.

"Natsume-kun!" Mikan squealed, running to Natsume who was gasping for air and trying to pull out the stems.

This time, it wasn't a human possessed – it didn't even involve any possession at all. These flowers were monsters.

"_They smell like defrosted chicken" _

Mikan gulped. Who sent these flowers in the first place? Was it some evil sorcerer or something? She decided to put her pondering aside and save Natsume.

She dashed back into the kitchen and returned with a steak knife. She started slicing the flower heads and the leaves. The flowers were similar to snakes, they slithered about and gave a disturbing hissing sound. Their petals had fallen out and were replaced by sharp glass which was now headed towards Natsume.

"KYAA!" Mikan yelled and blocked the flowers, whilst getting scratched on the leg.

"IDIOT!"

Mikan cut off one of the flower heads (sadly, another one grew back). She tripped on the floor and the flowers now let go of Natsume, crashing towards the chocolate-haired girl.

"Damn Flowers!!!" Natsume yelled. All of a sudden, he saw a lighter on the counter. He ran towards it.

"Come and get me!" he yelled and ran out to the garden.

"Natsume-kun!!"

The flowers chased after him and they reached the garden, they imbedded their roots into the soil and started to grow larger and sharper.

Natsume opened the lighter and jumped on the garden table. Mikan ran out the door to see what he was going to do and Natsume set the flowers on fire.

Large blazes of fire smoked the flowers which were now being disintegrated into ashes. The flowers hissed with pain and they twisted and turned and finally, they were burnt to a crisp. Mikan watched the smoke rise to the Nagoya sky in awe.

Natsume wiped off some sweat off his head and walked to Mikan. He pushed her to the ground.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Man, you're so careless" Natsume said, kneeling down and examining Mikan's bleeding leg.

"I…I was just trying to save you…gomenasai…"

"You're uglier if you get hurt" he grunted and ripped a bit of his cape.

He tied the piece of cape around her leg.

"N-Natsume-kun…"

"If you try to save me, I swear I'll kill you"

Mikan nodded. "Remember Natsume-kun, I don't want you to die…so I'm doing my best for you not to leave…"

Natsume gave an inner smile. "Cheesy"

"W-well…it's true!"

Natsume rolled his eyes. "Whatever, let's have dinner"

"Aren't you going to compliment me for my bravery?!"

"I'm supposed to compliment you?"

"Duh! That's what people always do"

"Well, I'm not just any person"

Mikan smiled. "Right, you're Natsume-kun!"

Natsume opened the sliding door and the two walked in.

"I'm impressed, Natsume…I've underestimated you…" a figure said, stroking the remains of the flowers.

The figure placed the ashes into his pocket and frowned. "I have to be more violent then"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"_Hello, it's Hotaru. I'm not home right now, well…I'm not sure if I'll ever be home. Please leave a message after the beep. Thank you…BEEEEEEPPPPPPPP" _

"Hotaru-chan, it's Ruka. If you're home, please pick up. All of us are worried about you. Are you sick or something?"

Ruka put down the phone. _Why am I so worried about her? _

He put on some pajamas and lay down on his futon. Somehow, he couldn't sleep. Insomnia probably? No. He was worrying about Hotaru.

Where was she? He couldn't get a glimpse of her jet black hair, her stunning violet eyes, her pale smooth skin, her slim shoulders…Ruka opened his eyes. He missed everything about her, even though she was just absent for two days.

He sat up and removed his pajama top and put on a sweatshirt instead. He took a flashlight from his cabinet and tip toed out of the room.

This was the first time he ever attempted to sneak out of his house. The whole house was silent and darkness consumed the whole place that he couldn't see anything. He could hear his father snoring in the next room and he tried his best not to wake them or else they'd freak out if they found out he was trying to escape.

"OUCH!" he yelled, his foot hitting something hard.

He opened the flashlight and saw it was Usagi's rabbit cage.

Come to think of it, where was Usagi anyway? Rabbits don't just disappear like that. But, still…he spent more time pondering over Hotaru than he did with Usagi.

Luckily, he was able to sneak out of his house.

The pavement was wet with summer rain and the damp smell of wet flowers swam lethargically in the air. The streetlights lit the dark district of Ruka and he silently slipped amongst the houses, hoping not to scare or wake anyone.

He arrived at Hotaru's area. The placed was so silent that even a leaf stirring seemed like a marching band. He rang Hotaru's doorbell.

No answer.

He rang it again.

No answer.

He twisted the door knob very carefully, surprisingly the door was open! He opened the lights and there was no furniture at all.

The house was empty. The windows were shut tight and everything was gone. Ruka gulped. Was she robbed? He walked to her room, there WAS something there. But it was just her school bag and her uniform.

There was a note wedged between the closet doors. Ruka picked it up:

_Hello person._

_Thank you for taking the time to look for me. Apparently, I am gone forever. Arigato. _

_-Imai Hotaru-san_

Then the note disintegrated mysteriously.

Ruka ran out the door, scared. Where was she? Did she die? Was she kidnapped? Did she move out? He ran out the door, his whole body trembling with concern and all of a sudden, he tripped on something.

He opened his flashlight and he saw a sign and it read: **FOR SALE**

Hotaru-chan!? Where are you?!?!?

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**To be continued…**


	17. Birthdays

**..THANK YOU…**

MoonLoveAngel, **Sakino-chan, may520**, cute0anime0addict, Umbreon-Rawks, deynaz, tinkerbellie, simplebutspecial, **CrazyBaka14**, danixox, jacksparrow589, Royal Goddess, Chokoreeto-Hime, kagome's heart102, Kaya-chan90, Star Sapphirex, SnowCharms, **jwinkee, **deathglare1313 & **Aminatsu032** for reviewing Chapter 16

…**NOTES….**

Bwahahaha! I'm updating earlier than expected. Thank you for all your reviews, by the way! It's really encouraging and you readers****are the ones that keep my writing!!! I love you all!!!

To **deathglare1313: **Well, actually – I got the idea when I was watching this movie called **"Interview With The Vampire" **– it's a really nice movie and it inspired me to write this fanfic.

**Tonkatsu Breaded Pork**

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Chapter Seventeen**

Birthdays

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Months **passed.

Ruka watched the red & orange leaves drift down gently to the sidewalk pavement. The relaxing cold air against his cheek made him shiver with delight and he stared at the blue sky, decorated with birds flying south. Autumn had arrived.

The blonde teenager sighed and adjusted his blazer which the school provided during the colder months of the year. He kicked the leaves, making it scatter all over and drift into different directions.

_How long has it been? _He wondered. _How long has it been since she disappeared?_

"_Hello, it's Hotaru. I'm not home right now, well…I'm not sure if I'll ever be home. Please leave a message after the beep. Thank you…BEEEEEEPPPPPPPP" _

Those words were like poison. How could she have just left like that? Couldn't she have just written a goodbye letter? Couldn't she have just called him? Couldn't she have just mentioned her leave during school? Couldn't she have just came and said goodbye?

It wouldn't be so hard for him if she came to his doorstep and said "Hi Ruka, I'm leaving tomorrow". It wouldn't have created such a painful impact on him. He had heartache and he knew it. But he didn't know why.

He just wanted to have her, even though she was emotionless and secretive. He just wanted to hold her. That's all. He couldn't ask for more.

And he wondered about Hotaru as he walked home.

Where are you?

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**WHERE **ARE YOU, NATSUME-KUN?!?!" yelled our favorite brunette as she walked around her backyard.

The night had settled in and it was time for dinner. Mikan had prepared her 'specialty' **tonkatsu **and she hated to see it get cold for it was quite delicious as it was warm. And it was REALLY bad manners to eat without Natsume. Her grandfather was out running some errands once more so it was just the two of them alone in the house again.

The autumn wind blew against her chocolate colored hair which was let loose with a simple blue head band and she paced around her backyard yelling Natsume's name as if she were calling her pet cat which went off.

She began to get exhausted and leaned against one of her backyard trees which was now abundant in orange crisp leaves. All of a sudden, a head popped out of one of the bunches of leaves. It was Natsume, who had been in that tree all day.

"AAAH!" Mikan yelled, getting quite a shock from Natsume's sudden appearance.

"What is it, polka-dots?" he said, smirking at her scared expression.

"Don't call me Polka-Dots!" the brunette said, folding her arms and walking away. "Dinner's ready"

Natsume jumped out of the tree and rested his head on his arms as he walked. "Ah…You're hair is let loose…"

Mikan stopped and faced him. "Yeah, I kind of got tired of my pig tails so I let it loose for a change"

"It looks…"

Natsume gulped. Was he about to compliment her? Well, she did look very pretty with that kind of hair style that it made a scarlet color creep up his cheeks. _Damn it, _he thought. _Why am I feeling so embarrassed because of the way she looks like?_ He wanted to slap himself, hoping to stop the red color from spreading throughout his face.

"Ah…Natsume-kun, you're face is red…do you have a fever?" Mikan said, putting her hand on his forehead.

"Don't touch me!" Natsume yelled, but his face remained red as Mikan put her hand on his cheek to see if he had a fever. _Why did she care about me so much? _He thought,_ I'm just her…ugh…**best friend. **_

"Nope, you don't have a fever" she said. "But you are kinda red"

Natsume wanted to jump off a cliff. _URGHHH!! This idiot is making me feel all weird inside!!! _

"Anyway, dinner's ready!"

Natsume and Mikan finally entered the house, luckily the tonkatsu was still warm. Natsume noticed that the plates were different this time.

"Hey, what's with the plates?"

"Oh, I don't use those plates that much since I only use them when jii-chan stays home for dinner but apparently he's been super busy. I gave them to him for his birthday"

There was a pause.

"Speaking of **_birthdays, _**when is yours – Natsume-kun?"

Natsume choked on some rice. "Wha--?"

"You're birthday!"

Natsume rested his chin on his hand. _My birthday?_

Of all his 'vampire life' he never really got to wonder about his birthday.

"I don't have one"

"Of course you have one, silly!" Mikan said, giving a snort. "Everyone has a birthday!! Even plants have birthdays!!"

"Plants? What the hell?"

"Duh! The day they broke open from their seeds…that's their birthday!" the brunette said with her mouth full of tonkatsu.

"Well, I don't have one"

"Come on, I bet vampires even have birthdays! It's the day they were…**_bitten?" _**

"Yeah whatever, as if I don't have better stuff to do than wonder about when my birthday is!" Natsume grunted, putting down his napkin.

"I'm going to bed!" he said, walking to his room.

"Ah…Natsume-kun!! Wait!"

Natsume entered the guest room and shut the door.

_Ne, Natsume-kun…you don't have a birthday? _

_Maybe that's why you're so unhappy. _

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**Reading **about vampires again?" Mikan said, as Ruka entered the classroom reading a book.

**More About Vampires**

_A sequel to "All About Vampires" _

_A must read for all you vampire-lovers! _

"To take my mind of…Hotaru-chan" Ruka said, sighing with much depression.

"Take a look at this" he continued, showing Mikan a page of the book.

…**The Start of a Vampire Life…**

_Once a vampire is bitten by another vampire, his soul is taken away and he dies in his human life. He then comes alive with all the vampire features, and that's the beginning of a vampire life. See more on page 234_

"That's probably Natsume-kun's birthday, then!" Mikan exclaimed.

"Natsume's birthday? What does that have to do with this book?"

Mikan's eyes widened. "Nothing! I just remembered about Natsume's birthday"

"Yeah? When's his birthday?" Ruka said, putting down his book.

Mikan shrugged. "I don't know"

"You're his cousin…you should know"

"Hehehe…I'm not close to him so…"

"You should throw him a birthday party" a familiar voice said.

Mikan turned around, coming to find a smiling Kaito who had just arrived.

"Ah!! Ohayo gozaimasu, Kaito-kun"

"Ohayo, Mikan-chan…ne, you were talking about birthdays just now?"

"Yeah, and you gave me a great idea! A birthday party!! He's going to love that!!"

"Ne, Mikan-chan…knowing Natsume-kun, isn't he the type to celebrate birthdays ALONE?" Ruka said

"He's kinda anti-social but I don't care!" Mikan giggled.

"Hey, why don't I help making the party?" Kaito said, settling down on his desk.

"Kaito-kun!! You'll do that for me?!?"

"Well, this Natsume you are talking about seems very important to you so why not?"

"YAY!!!"

"Maybe I'll help too" Ruka said

"Arigato gozaimasu!" Mikan said, her face lighting up with pure happiness.

"Trust me," Kaito said, giving a smile. "It will be one heck of a party"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**A** few days of secretive party planning went by & finally the awaited evening arrived for the preparations.

"Comein, guys" the brunette whispered, opening the back door of her house. It was ten in the evening & Natsume had sunken in to the darkness of his room and grandpa was already asleep in his room. Ruka and Kaito tiptoed in with boxes of party favors.

"It's going to be a surprise party tomorrow morning" Mikan whispered, as the three entered the kitchen. Mikan switched on the lights and the two boys placed the boxes on the counters.

"I really appreciate you guys helping me, you see…Natsume-kun…"

Mikan blushed. "I care about Natsume-kun" she murmured. She then shook her head "So what party stuff do you have inside these boxes?"

"Streamers, balloons, party hats" Ruka said, taking out the colorful surprises out of the dull boxes.

"Pin the Eye on the Snake," Kaito said, taking out a poster which had an image of a green eyeless python.

"Pin the Eye on the Snake? I thought it was Pin the Tail on the Donkey" Mikan said, taking the poster and examining it very carefully.

Kaito shrugged. "I saw it in the store & it seemed very unique other than the normal pin-the-tail game so I bought it"

Mikan rolled the poster. "Well then, arigato Kaito-kun"

"Have you made the birthday cake, Mikan-chan?" Ruka inquired.

"Yeah! It's Chocolate cake with strawberry icing" Mikan said, giving a smile.

"Ne, shouldn't we prepare the party stuff already?"

"Oh right!" Mikan said, her face lighting up. "We'll decorate the whole living room!"

"Let's get started!"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**The **three of them spent endless hours silently preparing for tomorrow morning's surprise party.

They hung the paper streamers all around the corners of the room, they put **HAPPY BIRTHDAY **letters all around the living room, they blew into colorful balloons and tied them to anything that was possible to have something tied to and hung the Pin-The-Eye-on-the-Snake poster.

Mikan, exhausted – fell on the floor panting. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she watched the living room come alive with colorful birthday favors. Oh, how she anticipated the happiness that she'll bring to the dark-haired boy tomorrow morning.

The brunette glanced at the wall clock. It read: **2:45 AM**

"We better get going" Ruka yawned.

"Yeah. Who's coming to the party tomorrow?"

"It's a small party. You guys are invited, me, jii-chan, Permy…she wasn't invited but she found out one way or another and some classmates like Yuu, Anna-chan and Nonoko-chan" Mikan said, numbering the people with her fingers.

"Oh, ok! Well, we better get going now – oyasuminasai!" Kaito said, taking the cardboard boxes.

"Ok! Bye!" Mikan said, sitting up and walking the two boys to the back door. "Thanks again"

Kaito smiled. "No problem, **_anything_** for Mikan-chan's cousin"

Mikan smiled nervously. There was something about this Kaito that made her feel weird.

"Anou, bye Ruka-pyon!" she said, waving to her blonde friend who waved back.

Mikan yawned and walked to her room, excited for tomorrow.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**WEEEEE!!!!" **Mikan squealed, running out of the door to check if everything's ready for tomorrow's party. Obviously, she was really excited for the party and most importantly, she couldn't wait to make Natsume smile. To see this rebellious vampire smile was like a rare treasure that only could be revealed if treated with much care and perseverance.

Natsume opened his eyes for he had woken up due to the noise that Mikan had created. _What's the idiot done now? _He wondered, stretching & sitting up. Then, he heard voices of other people coming from the living room. _What the hell? _He thought, standing up and walking to the living room.

He saw silhouettes of eight people in it. _What was this? A meeting or something? _

He slid open the living room door. "Guys! He's here!" Mikan squealed.

"**HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATSUME-KUNNNNNNN!!!!!" **

Natsume twitched. "What the hell?!?"

Sumire leapt into his arms. "Natsume-kun, you never told me that you're birthday was today!!! I could've prepared my own party for you!!"

"Well, why would I when it's not!?!" Natsume yelled, pulling away from the clingy girl.

"Huh?" Sumire said, clinging onto Natsume's arm once more.

"Mikan! What the hell is this?!?" the dark-haired boy said, disgusted by all the party favors which were hanging on every corner of the room.

"Natsume-kun!! I threw you a birthday party!!"

"Why?"

Before Mikan could reply, she was intruded by our "favorite" Kaito who was wearing a dull party hat.

"Ah, Mikan-chan – shouldn't we be playing Pin-the-Eye-on-the-Snake?"

"Pin-the-Eye-on-the-Snake? What is this? A kiddy party? No way am I going to play it!"

"Fine, then I'll play it!" Mikan said, folding her arms.

"And what's HE doing here?" Natsume said, pointing to Kaito who was smiling at the two innocently.

"He helped me make this party for you!" Mikan replied. "Kaito-kun, where's the eye of the snake?"

Kaito handed Mikan a plastic red ruby.

"How pretty!" Mikan said, her eyes gleaming.

Kaito then tied a handkerchief around Mikan's eyes. "Ok, go!"

Natsume watched Mikan walk towards the snake poster stupidly. But surprisingly, she was able to put the "eye" of the snake where the eye was supposed to be. All of a sudden, the guests started disintegrating like a mountain of ashes. Natsume watched in horror as they fell to the ground in ashes. It was only he and Mikan left in the room.

Mikan removed the blindfold. "I did it!"

Mikan gulped, she looked at the floor which was now covered in ashes.

She turned around to look at the poster, the snake now was different. It had vivid yellow scales and it's teeth were now drenched in blood. Then all of a sudden, the plastic red ruby eye sank into the poster & became a part of the picture as well.

"Natsume-kun…what's…what's happening?"

The snake blinked.

"Something bad, you idiot!"

The snake blinked once more and it affixed its eye upon Mikan who was shaking in horror.

The poster fell down and there was silence.

"W-what h-happened?"

Natsume didn't say anything but he took Mikan's hand and the two ran out of the house.

"N-Natsume-kun!!"

They fell on the street and Mikan was panting with fright.

All of a sudden, the ground began rumbling.

"Damn it!" Natsume yelled and walked back. "Get out of there, stupid!"

Mikan looked down at the road. "What?"

Then, the yellow snake which now seemed like a basilisk broke out of the road, it's ruby eyes glimmering magnificently but its teeth were red as blood. Mikan watched in horror as she rose up, for she was on the head of the basilisk.

"What's happening?!" Mikan screamed.

The basilisk narrowed its eyes at Natsume.

It rose out of the road and headed for the dark-haired vampire whose eyes were widened with horror.

"N-Natsume-kun! Be careful!"

The basilisk was extremely fast, it lifted Natsume up and flicked him with its tail. He fell on the road, now abundant with bruises and scratches for the impact of the basilisk's hit was horrid.

"Damn…" he murmured and stood up. "Polka-Dots! Remove the eye of the basilisk!"

"The eye?!?!"

"That's the source of its power, you idiot!!"

Before Mikan could do so, the basilisk shook her off its head and she fell on the ground as well and blood started to trickle down her leg.

"It's super strong!!" she told Natsume.

"I think I already know that you cow!!" the vampire responded, struggling with the bruises and cuts he had received from the throw of the basilisk.

The basilisk flicked Mikan once more with its tail and she was thrown to the roof of her neighbor's house.

Natsume's eyes widened as Mikan forced herself to stand up and jump down the roof, her legs and arms generous in blood and her face all scratched and bruised.

"This is your birthday, Natsume-kun!" she murmured. "I'm not letting some dumb snake get in the way of it!" Mikan yelled, and grabbed hold of the basilisk's tail.

"Mph!" she grunted, as it tossed and turned. She then climbed up its back and onto its head.

Natsume watched her hold on for dear life as the basilisk started ramming its head against the trees, hoping to kill the brunette who wouldn't give up.

Mikan put her hand on the basilisk's eye and used all her strength to pull it out. It was unusually heavy so she used much of her effort to pull it out.

The basilisk twitched in pain as Mikan held its eye in her hands.

"BREAK IT!!" Natsume yelled.

Mikan nodded and threw the eye on the ground, it smashed into a million pieces as if it was a fragile vase.

The basilisk gave a shriek of horror and it fell to the ground and disintegrated like dust.

Natsume ran to Mikan as she collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Mikan **woke up in a white room, there was a window in front of her that had a view of Nagoya. She noticed that her right arm and her left leg were wrapped in casts and there was a bandage wrapped around her torso.

"Feeling better?"

Mikan turned to her right and found Natsume sitting on an arm chair, clutching a shounen manga.

"N-Natsume-kun…"

"It seemed you had injuries because of the whole basilisk thing" Natsume said, walking up to Mikan.

"Oh right…what happened to the guests?"

"They're okay, they went back to their normal selves and I sent them home because I had to call an ambulance because of your careless actions"

"I…I just wanted for you to have a birthday, Natsume-kun"

"Listen, idiot. Whether or not I have a stupid birthday, I don't need one"

Mikan simply sighed.

"And because of that dumb birthday idea, look at yourself now. You're not really happy, are you?"

"Nope, I'm happy" Mikan said, giving a smile.

"I'm…I'm happy because you're here Natsume-kun, you make me happy! And it shows that you really care for me since you've been watching me from that armchair…I'm…I'm happy but I'm too tired to show it" the brunette continued.

Natsume gave an inner smile. "Really now?"

Mikan nodded and held Natsume's hand. "It makes me happy when I'm with friends"

Natsume's face fell a bit. "Whatever"

Birthdays huh?

Well, Natsume didn't need one to make him happy.

He just needed her.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**To be continued…**

…**NOTES…**

Man that was a long chapter! Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review!


	18. A Sudden Appearance

…**THANK YOU…**

simplebutspecial, **jwinkee, may520, littledoggy, **cy33, lysabelle, Typh, kagome's heart102, jacksparrow589, Pink Fire101, **Llamas Are Sexy, **SnowCharms, **Sakino-chan, Crazy-Baka14**, mushi, EreishaForFeia, anitsirhc, **Aminatsu032, ManimeFrances, **SarcasticHeartlessAngel, deynaz, Tears and Sorrow

…**NOTES…**

Haha! I'm obviously updating very fast, don't you think? Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

To **Typh: **Oh, I've seen that book selling around. I'll try to buy it and read it. Maybe I'll get inspired! XD

To **Aminatsu032: **Thank you for the advanced bday greeting, Aminatsu-chan! I really appreciate it!

To **ManimeFrances: **Kaito likes defrosted chicken because…bwahaha! That will be revealed in the next

chapters!

To **SarcasticHeartlessAngel: **Thank you for reviewing most of my stories, if not all! I really appreciate it!

**Where's your soul now? **

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Chapter Eighteen**

A Sudden Appearance

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**Painkillers **again?" the brunette groaned, lifting her head from a magazine she was reading.

It had been about two weeks or so since the basilisk incident and Mikan had been discharged out of the hospital although her arm and leg still remained recovering inside the cast and her torso was still bandaged for it had been wounded.

December was closing in and the weather was getting colder by the day. All the birds in Mikan's village had gone off to the south now and the trees were now leafless for winter had already begun. Mikan, herself was excited for the snow that would begin anytime soon and she would stare at the sky every so often to see if there were snowflakes beginning to fall already.

"Drink up" Jii-chan said, handing her the two bitter tablets that she was prescribed to take to ease the pain of her broken leg & arm and her wounded torso.

"I don't want to!" Mikan whined. She hated the taste of the painkillers; it tasted like a dirty bathroom floor.

"It's your consequence for attempting to save a kitten from a roof and then falling down" Jii-chan replied sternly. Apparently, Mikan & Natsume had to lie their way through Jii-chan when he found out about Mikan checking into the hospital.

Mikan pouted but simply took the two pills and chugged them into her mouth whilst gulping down some water.

"YUCK" she said, sticking out her tongue which was now suffering from the horrible taste of dirty-bathroom-floor.

Our favorite raven-haired vampire came out of his room, yawning. "Still in that cast; polka-dots?"

"Yes! I can't wait to get out of it and start walking again…and don't call me polka-dots, you perverted ignoramus!"

Natsume simply smirked and made himself comfortable on the couch.

"Ah…Natsume-kun!! Thank God you've woken up" Jii-chan said, coming out of the kitchen.

"Hn…"

"Can you please do me a favor, please?"

"What is it?"

"Can you go to Mikan-chan's school & pick up Mikan's missed homework? Ruka-kun can't come over today and bring her homework since he has soccer…so can you? Her classroom is III-A"

_What the hell? Go to Mikan's school & pick up her homework? _

"Please, Natsume-kun!" Mikan said, making her trademark puppy-dog-face.

Natsume felt a blush creeping up his cheek and realizing this, he immediately shook his head to shake the redness off his face.

"Fine, fine!" he said, slipping on his jacket. "I'll go!"

"Arigato!!!"

"Ugh…whatever!" Natsume yelled, running out the door in the hope that jii-chan or Mikan didn't see him blushing over the idiot.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_**Why? **_

Why? The dark-haired boy wondered, kicking the remaining scarlet leaves that were lying on the pavement. The weather was incredibly cold and the sky was gray in preparation for the frozen precipitation. Natsume rubbed his hands together to warm himself & put his hands on his face.

Why did that idiot make him feel all strange? He definitely knew that Mikan was very important to him to the point of thinking about her every so often but he never did expect her to bring butterflies into his stomach & make his heart feel so hot.

He had been thinking about whether he was interested in claiming her heart or not but there were boys that Mikan seemed to be interested in and that seemed to get in the way of Natsume making a move. For example, Ruka and another example…ugh…Kaito.

_Am I in love with her? _Natsume thought. But he sighed with much frustration. _What's the point? It would be very bad for me to love her and for her to love me, it would be wrong. _

Natsume stopped by the gates of the school. _She's better off with Ruka anyway. _

He jumped over the school gates, being a vampire – defying gravity was easy. He walked towards the school building to pick up her homework.

"Oi, Natsume!!!" said a familiar voice.

Natsume turned around, it was Ruka. He wore a blue soccer jersey and had a soccer ball in his arms and was running towards Natsume.

"Ruka…"

Ruka stopped and panted. He looked up at Natsume. "Mikan-chan was absent today…"

"I know. I'm getting her homework"

"Oh! I have the homework, sensei gave it to me awhile ago to drop it off at her house but since you're here, I might as well give it to you" Ruka said and beckoned Natsume to follow him.

"So is Mikan-chan doing better? I heard she fell of the roof to save a cat and broke her leg, arm and hurt her a bit of her torso"

"Yeah, she's doing…she's doing better…she acts like it anyway with that goofy smile pasted on her face all the time"

Ruka lifted his head from his school bag where he left Mikan's homework. "I'm getting an impression that you're interested in Mikan"

"What? Hell no…"

"Humph. Even with that dull face of yours, it doesn't matter. It's so obvious & even the way you look at her gives your feelings away"

Natsume gulped.

"You're not cousins, are you?" Ruka said, smirking.

Natsume sat down on the soccer bench with Ruka and shrugged. "What do you think?"

"Well, whether or not you're cousins – you have to tell her"

"Tell her? Tell her what?"

Ruka grinned. "Tell her that you love her"

Natsume turned slight pink. "Doesn't matter anyway, telling her will not help us anyway. Plus, I can't love her anyway…God, why am I telling this to you?"

"It's kind of a man-to-man talk" Ruka replied, giving a smirk.

"Besides, you **love **her…and she loves you too…so why would I dare to intrude?" Natsume sighed

"Hey, yeah…I love Mikan but my feeling is brother-sister now. It's true I've had a crush for Mikan for quite sometime but that kinda stopped when I…"

"When you…?"

"Never mind. I don't want to talk about it."

"Imai-san?"

Ruka turned pink. "I don't want to talk about it"

"It's stupid that you're telling me to tell my feelings towards that dummy when you don't even have the guts to tell Imai-san about yours"

"How can I? She's gone…"

"Gone?"

"Mikan didn't tell you? She vanished into thin air"

Natsume's eyes widened.

"Well, anyway…you better tell Mikan how you feel about her or else one day when you gather up enough courage to tell her, it may be too late"

"Heh, whatever…can I have her homework now?"

Ruka handed the papers to Natsume. "Ganbatte, Natsume…I mean, to your confession"

"Yeah whatever, thanks!" the raven-haired boy said, standing up.

"NOGI! ON THE FIELD NOW!" The team captain yelled out from the field.

"Yeah!" Ruka yelled back, getting the soccer ball.

"Bye, Natsume"

"Bye, Ruka"

Natsume was about to leave when Ruka yelled at him.

"NATSUME!!!"

"WHAT?"

"SHE DIDN'T FALL OFF THE ROOF, DID SHE?"

Natsume smirked. Man, this guy was good.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK?" he yelled back.

Ruka shrugged. "SOMETHING MORE…**SUPERNATURAL" **

"YOU COULD CALL IT THAT WAY!" Natsume yelled and turned his back, smirking.

"_It seems that the blonde freak and the nuisance are becoming friends, hmmm…I suppose I could try him"_

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Night **fell.

The wintry air invigorated our favorite blond boy who spent the whole afternoon on the soccer field. Well, he didn't just spend his afternoon kicking soccer balls – it was also to get rid of that stoic emotionless girl out of his mind. A soccer competition was coming up two weeks from now and he didn't want to have his mind on Hotaru. He should just move on.

All of a sudden, he felt something…or rather someone brush against a tree. He stopped practicing and looked around to see who was there. It was apparently just some winter wind that seemed to rock some branches. He continued practicing.

Then a few minutes later, that certain someone moved to the next tree. Ruka fell suspicious and kicked the ball on the tree. Nothing seemed to stir.

"WHO'S THERE?" Ruka yelled.

Suddenly, he heard something bounce behind him. He turned around and saw his soccer ball bouncing like a basketball by itself. He was definitely freaked out by now for the climate seemed to have dropped even more and he didn't like this eerie feeling.

Before he could run and collect his things, a cold bony hand clasped itself on his lips and he was dragged to an even colder body.

He kicked and tried to get out of the clutches of whoever it was who was holding him but that certain someone's power was unbelievable that he seemed to be drained out of all his energy that he could feel himself get pale and his heart beat decrease for it was as if he was being strangled.

"Please don't struggle, you will get even more hurt if you do" a voice whispered.

Ruka swore he had heard that voice before.

"You're soul is beautiful, may I contaminate it?"

_What the hell? _Ruka thought, but before he knew it – something painful, like a needle…or a pin was inserted into his chest. He felt nauseous and a migraine occupied his head. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead as he stumbled on the ground, everything seemed blurry and he felt like vomiting. He looked up to see who that person was.

"Who…who are you?"

The person was wearing a red and black cape, that's for sure. But the face remained unknown to him.

"You're quite a fighter, aren't you? Look at the way you struggle, you're just putting your body and soul into pressure. Stop it"

"Answer me!!!" Ruka yelled, trying all his might for that thing that was placed into his heart not to overcome him.

"That's quite impossible to answer now. Stop struggling. Give in. It's a wonderful feeling, I tell you"

"You…you…maniac!"

The person laughed. "I've been called worse…ooh, you are stronger than I imagined…I suppose I have to give you a double dose of this soul poison"

He picked up another pin-like object and placed it inside his chest. "Better now?"

Ruka fell to the floor, gasping for air.

"I thought so" the person said, giving a smile. He then walked away.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**Tell **her?" Natsume said to himself, as he clutched the homework of Mikan.

He was still walking, but he was intentionally doing this because he didn't want to see Mikan's goofy smile again because again, she gave him this certain feeling that made him look and feel utterly stupid.

But at the same time, he wanted to tell her what he thought about her. But he didn't want to either. It was a complicated feeling. After all, if he told her his feelings – it would make matters even more difficult because she would just be hurt in the end of it all.

_Face it_, Natsume thought. _We're not meant to be with each other. Face the facts. _

All of a sudden, the street lights began fluctuating and then surprisingly, it exploded.

But it wasn't a big explosion, it was the kind of explosion that just scattered debris of what exploded all around the pavement. Natsume's eyes widened. He had a feeling that it was one of those nights again.

Then, he heard something bounce. It was a ball.

Since he was a vampire, he could see in the dark. He saw a soccer ball.

"Damn, who's he possessed now?" he thought and folded his arms to see the crazy person emerge from the darkness.

Then suddenly, Ruka appeared. He had a strange crazy smile plastered on his face and the wit in his eyes seemed to be drained and now he had dull and empty eyes. He took the soccer ball in his hands and gave a smile.

"Let's have a tournament" he said.

_Hell no_ – Natsume thought, wiping off some sweat which was trickling down his neck.

Ruka held the ball firmly and then suddenly it began to grow spikes. Then, it became a mace. Rusty chains began growing out of the top.

"I like playing rough" Ruka said.

"Duh. You're possessed" Natsume replied, and jumped on the wall. "Come and get me"

Ruka jumped on another wall too. "Fine, it will be a game of tag then. I was looking forward to soccer really, but if that's what you want…"

"Why not a game of yoyo?" he said, giving an evil grin.

He dropped the mace and it began following Natsume everywhere he jumped. No matter how high he was, it would still roll and follow him.

"Oh, it seems you're too good for an easy level" Ruka said and withdrew the mace. "Fine" he said, as more maces appeared into his hand.

"Damn it!" Natsume yelled as the maces began charging at him. The maces were bigger and much faster this time, and it was hard dodging them.

Then, Natsume tripped from a roof and fell on the ground with the maces following him. He was too exhausted to move out of his position, when the maces fell on his back. Blood dribbled out of his back and Natsume flinched with much pain.

"IMAI WOULDN'T LIKE THIS!!!" he yelled, managing to shout.

"DON'T MENTION HOTARU-CHAN!!!" Ruka yelled, as more maces hit Natsume. More blood was shed.

"You're right, I wouldn't like this"

He was greeted by the most painful slap that he could ever imagine

Ruka's eyes widened and he put his hand on his cheek. "Hotaru-chan?"

There standing right before his eyes was Hotaru, who didn't look at all pleased. Her arms were crossed and her face was even paler than before.

She dug into his chest and pulled out the two pins which possessed him. "Humph. How desperate master was"

She inserted the pins into her pocket as Ruka came to his consciousness. "Hotaru-chan…what are you doing here?" his face suddenly lighting up.

"I'm going"

"Going? But you just got here?"

Hotaru gave him a sad look. "Goodbye, Ruka" she said and ran off into the darkness.

"HOTARU-CHAN!!!!" Ruka yelled, running after her. But she seemed to have vanished into thin air again.

_Ruka-kun…I'm so…I'm so sorry…_

Ruka stepped on something. He picked it up for it fell out of Hotaru.

"HOTARU-CHAN!! WAIT…YOU FORGOT YOUR…"

He looked at the thing that he picked up.

"YOU FORGOT YOUR EAR?!?!"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**To be continued… **

…**NOTES…**

I'll try to update soon! Hope you liked this chapter! Please leave a review! More RxH and MxN!


	19. Natsume's Life

…**THANK YOU…**

XxMEOWxMeWxX, tinkerbellie, **Aminatsu032, may520, **Aihara-Yuki, ErieshaForFiera, Umbreon-Rawks, RoyalGoddess, Pink Fire101, lysabelle, SarcasticHeartlessAngel, simplebutspecial, cute0anime0addict, **Crazy-Baka14**, Snow Charm, Kaya-chan90 for reviewing! And also deynaz for reviewing the fourteenth chap too!

**Where's your soul now? **

To **Crazy Baka14: **Yeah! That's wear I got the idea! Haha!

To **SarcasticHeartlessAngel: **You'll find out how long this fan fic is, and Kaito plays an important role in the story

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**Chapter Nineteen**

Natsume's Life

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Ruka stepped on something. He picked it up for it fell out of Hotaru.

"HOTARU-CHAN!! WAIT…YOU FORGOT YOUR…"

He looked at the thing that he picked up.

"YOU FORGOT YOUR EAR?!?!"

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**Okay, **so it's really normal for people to forget their possessions. There isn't any person living on this planet who hasn't forgotten something. Many of you probably lost a pen during the middle of class and it resulted to borrowing your seatmate's pen instead or some of you must've lost a cell phone somewhere or something but…to lose an EAR? Ears are off the list of: Things Most Likely to Forget because, well…it IS attached to you right?

Ruka stared at the piece of flesh which was on his study table wrapped in toilet paper in horror. How could've Hotaru-chan lost something like this? It was an EAR for crying out loud!! This was probably the freakiest thing that ever happened to him in his whole life, he could've sworn his heart stopped beating when he picked it up.

There was a tingly sensation in his chest that seemed to tell him that Hotaru-chan wasn't just…wasn't just a person.

But that didn't stop him from thinking about her, heck no.

_How are you, Hotaru? What are you doing? Are you ok? Do you need help? What's with this ear? _

He had so many questions to ask the stoic girl but knowing her secretive personality, he doubted that if he ever asked her she wouldn't tell him.

All he wanted was her to open up to him.

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"**You **hurt yourself…AGAIN" Mikan said, noticing Natsume's weak position on his futon. He looked shriveled up and he was feeling his back every so often.

"It's nothing…" Natsume groaned, burying himself in the bed sheets.

"Let me guess, someone was possessed again right?"

"Get out of here!!!" Natsume yelled, throwing a pillow at the brunette.

"NO I won't!" Mikan yelled back, putting down the breakfast tray of Natsume.

Natsume stood up. "Then I'll make you get out!!"

He turned around to pick up another pillow to throw at Mikan but then the chocolate-haired teen noticed that there was a huge soppy red spot on his back as well as on the futon. It was blood.

"Y-you're back is all bloody, Natsume-kun"

Natsume fell rigid. "It's not painful"

Mikan sighed. "Take off your top Natsume and I'll bandage it"

"Hell no!"

"Come on, you're a guy so it's okay! Plus I've done first aid so it's not my first time seeing a guy's torso"

"Do I need to remind you that I'm a vampire therefore I heal faster than humans?"

"So what? You still need to feel comfortable" Mikan said, walking out the door to get the first aid kit.

"I don't care…it'll just heal by itself"

Mikan returned with the kit and placed it on the table.

"You won't take a no for answer, will you? Fine I'm leaving!" Natsume said, walking out the door. Sadly, Mikan put her hands below his shirt and pulled it off. She came to find lots of cuts and wounds that were all red and were generous in blood. Natsume turned around. "You little…"

"It will take forever to heal that, Natsume-kun! Sit down here and I'll bandage you up" Mikan gulped, surprised to see the number of injuries decorating his back.

"NO" Natsume said flatly.

"You stubborn ox!" Mikan yelled, pushing Natsume to the floor.

"What the hell was that for?"

Mikan took the first aid kit and sat behind Natsume to wrap the bandages around his torso. There was a pause between the two of them. Then, the vampire began to hear sniffing.

"A-are you crying?" Natsume asked, without turning around.

"NO…I'm not…" Mikan said, shaking her head and returned to the first aid kit.

Natsume turned around and found his brunette companion rubbing her eyes for her eyes were now stung with tears and her nose was runny as well.

"Ah…gomenasai, Natsume-kun…I'll…I'll just bandage this up and I'll leave"

"Why the hell are you crying, idiot?"

"I…no…it's just something in my eye that's all…I have allergies, you know" Mikan said, her voice shakier than ever.

"Yeah, right! You suck in lying, so why are you crying? You're so ugly!"

Mikan rubbed her eyes. "I…I just don't like seeing you hurt and all…it makes me feel bad…" She then forced up a smile. "It's really hard caring for someone, isn't it Natsume-kun?"

She took the bandages and wrapped them around Natsume who surprisingly let her do so. When she was done, she fixed up the first aid kit and stood up. "So don't get hurt anymore Natsume-kun, alright? 'Cause I hate crying. It's…it's painful for me too…"

Natsume sighed. "It's not that easy, when you've got lots of losers chasing after you…"

"What do you mean?" Mikan said blankly.

"…Nothing. Get out of here"

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"**Ruka-pyon…**are you feeling okay?"

The blond boy simply blinked.

"Ruka-pyon…"

They had been dismissed already but Ruka was simply staring into space. He and Mikan had planned to go home together since Ruka's parents will be watching a play and Ruka was too worn out to come with them so he decided to have dinner at Mikan's place since he didn't want to be home alone.

How depressed Ruka looked when he stared into the orangey sunset. His eyes seemed lost, tired and gave an impression of a transfixed rabbit.

"Ruka…"

He just blinked and turned around. "Gomenasai, I was thinking of…of…"

"Of Hotaru-chan?"

Ruka turned slight pink. "W-wha?"

"She is a beautiful girl, Ruka-pyon…too bad…too bad she's **gone" **

Ruka turned to Mikan. "I'll tell you something, don't tell anyone"

"Um, ok?"

"I saw Hotaru-chan yesterday…"

Mikan's eyes widened. "WHAT THE HECK?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!" Her face went red with astonishment and her emerald green eyes glimmered.

Ruka shook his head. "And she left behind something really…um…really…let's say…really **personal" **He said, emphasizing the last word for he was still in complete shock.

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"**AN **EAAAARRRRRRR?!?!"

Mikan's voice shrieked throughout her tiny residence, her eyes seemed to bulge out of its sockets and her face was redder than a tomato. She banged her fists on the dinner table so hard that the chopsticks jumped up as well.

Ruka nodded solemnly and took the fleshy piece out of his backpack wrapped in tissue paper. "I don't know…it made me start thinking…what is she hiding from us?"

"W-what if she has a r-rare d-d-disease t-t-that makes y-y-your body parts fall off?!?!" Mikan said, her eyes dimming with fright.

Ruka shrugged. "We've just got to ask her ourselves"

Natsume walked in. "Ah…so her **_ear _**fell off" he said, picking up the ear and examining it as if it was a rare tropical insect species from the depths of the jungle.

"Natsume-kun! Get out of here! You've got nothing to do with this!" Mikan said, tugging on Natsume's arm.

"You guys are having dinner anyway so I might as well sit down…"

"Eavesdropper"

"Idiot"

**DING DONG**

"Who could that be?" Mikan said, standing up and brushing off breadcrumbs from her skirt. She ran to the door to answer it.

"So Natsume-kun, did you tell her?" Ruka said, sipping his tea.

"Tell her what?"

"_How you feel about her" _Ruka murmured, whispering from across the table.

Natsume's cheek flushed into an embarrassed scarlet color. "Nope…"

Ruka gave a sympathetic smile. "Well, you have to"

Natsume rolled his eyes, "Stop reminding me, alright?"

Mikan walked back to them, her face paler than ever.

"G-guys…it's Hotaru…"

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"**I **apologize for visiting so suddenly…" the stoic girl muttered, staring at the green tea which was set before her. Mikan's face was so pale that she looked dead, Natsume himself looked quite shocked and Ruka, who tried his best not to take Hotaru into his arms just stared at her like she was some precious jewel from across the table.

"N-no…it's no problem!" Ruka said, shaking his head. "B-by the way…you forgot your…"

He fished it out of his pocket. "Your…gulp…ear"

Hotaru's eyes widened in embarrassment as she took the ear which seemed to be staring at her "Oh God…oh no…"

"Damn it…how could I be so careless?"

"It's no problem…everyone loses something once in awhile" Mikan said, her voice quivering.

"Yes, I know…but an EAR? You guys must've been really shocked" Hotaru said, taking out a pin cushion from her pocket.

"Are you going to sew that back in?" Natsume inquired, pointing to the ear.

"Well, people did stare at me this morning. I guess it's because I only had one ear…"

Ruka and Mikan gulped. They were now utterly and truly confused. What was happening before them? This was like a secret fairy tale book unfolding before their eyes but instead of understanding it, they felt like they were simply falling into a deep hole.

"Don't you need surgery for that?" Mikan asked, her voice all quaky now.

Hotaru put the ear down and put pins on the spot where the ear was supposed to be to mark it. "Don't you get it? I'm not human!!!" she yelled, losing her patience. She put her hand on her mouth and began cursing. "Oh…I said it…" she whispered.

"Not human?! Not human?!" the two humans squealed, they were now white as a sheet.

"Well, it was inevitable that you would find out anyway…" Hotaru sighed. "I guess I have to let you in to my story"

Natsume shook his head. "I have to tell my story first, they won't get your story before they hear yours"

"Natsume…you're not HUMAN EITHER?!" Ruka choked, standing up.

The three friends shook their heads.

Ruka felt like fainting but of course, he had to stick to the discussion.

Natsume turned to them. "I'm a vampire and this is my story…"

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…**NATSUME'S POV…**

"**I **was an ordinary teenager living in Kyoto. I was fifteen then and I lived with my grandmother. I don't know what happened to my parents because my grandmother never brought the topic up and I never thought I even had some. To this day, I don't know who my parents are nor if I even had any. Well, it didn't matter anyway 'cause there are more important stuff to think about than that so anyway…

The horror began on a certain day when I saw this vampire report on television.

"_The vanishing rate has gone up to fifteen more missing students. This month has been filled with missing people and police are now investigating on it although there seems to be no evidence at all. According to high school Science teacher, Mr. Yamigura – he has seen a flying nocturnal beast about the size of a human wearing a cape. He has come to a conclusion that it was a vampire and…" _

"VAMPIRE?" I scoffed, immediately changing the channel. "Stupid people! God, they can't even think of more suspects than VAMPIRES. How dumb can they get?"

Weeks passed and I didn't watch the news report. The days began to get colder and winter was closing in. I remember that I had turned sixteen by then and I was doing really well in school although my grandma scolded me billions of times for ditching school and vandalizing school property and smoking in school grounds, she would belt me lots of times but what the heck…I would run out during dinner time and go smoking with friends and stuff…

I wasted my life.

I harassed girls & bullied younger kids. I beat up innocent students and I cursed at my teachers in front of their faces. I got suspended a lot and my grandma would lock me up in my room to 'control me' but I would escape from the window anyway and climb down the tree. I was like, the worst grandson EVER. No, better yet…the worst person ever. I could be a grade-A criminal. I was horrible.

Then one fateful day, I wanted to free myself from the clutches of my pushy grandmother and I packed up my stuff and escaped from my window. The night was fresh and the ground was blanketed in snow. I was walking to the train station, my destination was Tokyo. I lit a cigarette and rested for awhile since the train station was so damn far from my house.

Then suddenly, I felt someone breathe down my neck. I looked back and saw nobody so I shrugged. Then when I turned around again, these cold clammy hands put its hands on my neck. That thing was caped so I couldn't so who that was. I kicked that thing and it fell to the floor. I ran and then it pushed me to the ground.

I tried my best to fight back but then I was pinned to the ground and it was like I was sinking into the snow. Then that creature took me and bit my neck. I felt blood trickle down it and my eyes dilated. I saw this white thing rise up from me and then the ground cracked open and me and that creature dragged me down.

At first I thought it was HELL because it was so hot and I was generous in sweat. I was being stripped of my clothing and I was dressed in black garments. I felt cooler but it was weird that I wore a cape and white gloves. I fell on the floor, drained off my energy and I met someone.

That someone called himself Master. I saw him take that white thing that escape out of my chest.

"What's that?"

"That's your…soul…"

I noticed that there was a huge defrosted chicken behind him and there were millions of that white thing going into it. I was confused, I was tired. And it occurred to me, **I WAS DEAD. **

That Master took my soul and opened his mouth hoping to eat it, but it went straight to the defrosted chicken. He begins cursing horrible words and he stares at me disgustingly.

"YOU HAVE ANOTHER HALF!!"

"Half?"

"YOU STILL HAVE HALF OF YOUR SOUL! GIVE IT TO ME!"

Half of my soul? I began to feel this sudden sensation that I wanted to keep it and take care of it. It was like water in a desert. I thirsted for souls but I wanted to keep mine. It was like my only hope. I needed it to live, it was like a jewel. It was so precious. I didn't want to give half of my soul back. I was already robbed off my other half and I didn't want to give up my other one. I realized…

I wanted to live.

When I was still human, I would often think of committing suicide because I hated the people around me. But now, I wanted nothing more but to live my life. There were people I wanted to see, places I wanted to go to…

"NO!"

Then that Master took my neck and bit me. But nothing came out.

"DAMN IT! YOU HAVE SO MUCH WILL POWER!"

My will power refused to give it up. I pushed that guy and jumped. I began to fly. I flew to the top for the portal was still open.

"GET HIM!" the guy yelled.

Thousands of creatures like me began following me, screaming and screaming with high-pitched voices. They looked like bloody bats but I didn't understand why I wasn't transforming to something like them. They were oversized bats.

Those creatures began tearing my clothing and biting me. I put my fingers on them and cut them. I killed them. I had no idea I was capable of killing. I looked at my bloody hands and freaked out. I ran to the train station, confused…killing any creature that came my way. I felt sinful but I couldn't help it. I wanted to live. I didn't want to waste my soul like they did.

It came to me that I wanted to stay human.

I came across a map that flew to my face and it read: **NAGOYA. **

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"**So **that's how you ended up in my house…"

Natsume nodded.

"And that's how Hotaru was created"

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**To be continued…**

…**AUTHOR'S NOTE…**

This chapter could've been very confusing to you but I will explain everything more in the next chapter! Stay tuned!


	20. A Stitched Demon's Misery

…**THANK YOU… **

**Rukaru-kun, **deynaz, Royal Goddess, **may520, Aminatsu032, **tinkerbellie, Snow Charms, Pink Fire101, **Crazy-Baka14, **Umbreon-Rawks, cy33, Makato-kun, TearsandSorrow, kagomesheart102, Moon Love Angel, anitsirhc & li'l kitty for reviewing

…**WARNING…**

**LOTS OF DEFROSTED CHICKEN**

**Where's your soul now? **

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**Chapter Twenty**

A Stitched Demon's Misery 

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"**He **was auburn-haired with stunning turquoise eyes. He was Prince Charming, he was a drop from heaven. He was everything you could ask for and more. He was no one else but Kaito" Hotaru breathed, staring into her friends' eyes.

"Kaito? What does he have to do with this?" Mikan asked

Hotaru lowered her eyes and shook her head. "He was my master"

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**I **will have to skip the oh-so dreadful screaming of Mikan for it will simply kill you if you hear the sound of her screeching. It is simply too horrid and please be ever so grateful that I am sparing you from this terrible torture.

Now, back to Hotaru's story…

"He was Kaito. He was my master, but before he became that horrible monster – he was once a human. And even though he is terrible, I envy him for he was able to live a normal life for awhile unlike me…I was stitched from cloth and brought to life with black magic. Anyway, he was just like you people. He ate, he slept, he bathed…he did everything normal people did…and during his teens, he fell madly in love

He fell madly in love with two. One was Rika. She was very beautiful & they made a hot couple. She had long wavy strawberry blonde hair, freckles across her cheeks and dazzling blue eyes. She was the most beautiful girl in Kaito's school and everyone wanted to have her but she withdrew herself from all the good looking guys except, Kaito.

She was in love with Kaito as well, the two went steady and they were the talk of the town. They were like a match made in heaven and they were inseparable from the day they admitted their feelings to each other. They held hands, they went on dates…it was impossible for the two of them to NOT be together. They were like Cinderella and Prince Charming, it was a dream.

People grew envious of their successful relationship. They were together during their freshman year and when they reached their junior year, that's when things seemed to turn around all of a sudden.

He developed a strange obsession. According to him, it was irresistible. He couldn't take it. And he told me what drew him to it was the strange frosty freezer smell that it emitted and how it had a raw icy essence. He didn't know why but every time he opened his freezer, it was like heaven. He didn't know why but he began to collect anything that had to do with…that had to do with…**defrosted chicken. **

Rika began to notice his distance from her. Poor girl, she was so in love with him and then he started to vanish from her. He stood her up during dates & even skipped prom night. But Rika didn't stop sending him birthday gifts, postcards from when she would go abroad and chocolates (Kaito loved chocolates). She would leave countless messages on his answering machine but then he wouldn't listen to them anyway. She spent her nights crying on her bed, wondering what happened to her love.

The gossip began. Everyone talked about Rika and Kaito's relationship. Some said that Kaito was seeing an older woman and some said that he and Rika took drugs and that's why their relationship began to fall. Rika denied these gossips and said that she and Kaito were still much in love. She didn't want to ruin their reputation.

Then it happened again, Kaito returned to Rika and the two began dating once more. The gossip ceased and Kaito began asking Rika onto dates and DIDN'T stand her up, they held hands, they went to theme parks and they returned to their lovey-dovey relationship again. They cuddled during dismissal time and kissed each time they got. Some people were disgusted and some found it sweet.

Then one day…

**SLAP **

"I…I look like a defrosted chicken?!?!"

"Defrosted chickens are cute…you should be flattered!"

"Be flattered because I look like frozen poultry?"

"You don't…you don't understand!!"

"Oh, I understand very well! We're OFF Kaito!"

He sat on the kitchen floor, crying his eyes out. The one he loved the most has just walked out of his life. He stood up and took out his prized possession from the freezer and smiled weakly.

"I guess it's just you and me, Chicken" he said and stroked his beloved cold, dead and uncooked bird.

"You and me…forever" he whispered and stared into the abyss.

He tried, though…he tried to move on to another girl. But each time he did, it was either rejection or a fall of their relationship. After countless broken hearts, he came to realize that only defrosted chicken would be ever devoted to him. Being engrossed in his chicken hobby, he sold his soul to the devil so he can live forever with his defrosted chicken.

He gained eternal youth & he was much happy with it. Then one day, his chicken began to rot.

"NO! YOU CAN'T ROT!" Kaito yelled, tears streaming down his cheeks as he watched his beloved slip from his fingers and into the trash can. "NO!!!"

Nothing could replace that chicken, which he named **Frosty. **So he refused to buy any more defrosted chickens and he spent hours staring at his trash can with that decomposing poultry rotting before his eyes. He began to want to die too, because he too realized that he loved Rika all along but he already sold his soul to the devil and Rika had died already because years have passed already. He couldn't take his loneliness for Frosty haunted him too.

He wanted a soul.

So he went to hell and conquered all the demons. He made it his own lair and he became a **vampire**.

He set out on different regions of Japan and began biting people, hoping to claim their souls. But the souls wouldn't come to him, because they didn't belong to his heart. They looked for their owner's heart but they had become vampires too and their human form had died already. So Kaito made a big defrosted chicken and trapped all the souls inside it. He set on a quest to find HIS soul but he didn't know that it now was in the possession of the demons who have died too so it was impossible for him to get it back.

Then, after countless years of searching…he gave up.

And then, he met Natsume.

His soul was so precious because of his will power and he tried to get his other half of his soul but his heart forbade him to do so. So he set out all his vampires to kill him but Natsume won the battle and he went into hiding.

Kaito was infuriated. He wanted to become a human again and he was so greedy that he wanted to kill Natsume totally so he can become a vampire too because he couldn't take the fact that there was someone out there who had been bitten but was still half a human.

So he made me. He made **Imai Hotaru. **

He stitched me from parts of sacrificed vampires and I was born with black magic. He told me the things I was supposed to do and who I was. He told me I am a Demon Vampire, an assassin. I am to bathe in blood always and I am merciless. My words are to be poison and my hands are to be daggers. I am not to love or to be given emotions. For I am Imai Hotaru, I'm the most heartless thing on earth.

I grew up in a dark chamber and I was given no food for I do not need food. I would watch my master curse and hurt his fellow vampires because of frustration. But I was in my chamber always and I hardly came out to play. So I begged for Kanashimi or Kana for short. Kanashimi means sorrow.

Kaito agreed to my lonely demand and gave me Kanashimi, but on one condition. That I must never love her or grow to have sympathy. That she must be a weapon like me. So he gave me Soul Pins.

Those Soul Pins are filled with souls which were drenched in the oils of sadness. He attached them to Kana's back and told me that since I'm in my teens, I am allowed to search for Natsume. He told me that he was in hiding in Nagoya and I must hurt him through the people he meets.

The technique is to possess the person with that pin and then control his or her movements with black magic. So I agreed, because all I knew then was sorrow and hate. Kaito told me that I must despise anyone who comes my way and eliminate anyone who finds out about my identity. If I grow to love anybody, I am to be ripped apart and be fed to be the hungry vampires in the lower chambers or be burned. I was given the freedom to choose.

But it is a fake freedom.

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"**Well, **you won't _die _anyway since you didn't grow to love anyone anyway" Ruka said

"I am an obedient puppet, Ruka-kun. But that was one rule that I accidentally broke"

Ruka gulped. "You've fallen in love"

Hotaru lowered her head. "It is going to be useless because after I die that person will be given a Forgetting syringe that will forget about me…not only that, it will be given to EVERY person who I've grown to like or love… so my emotions for that person will amount to nothing"

"Hotaru-chan…"

Mikan turned to Hotaru. "Hotaru-chan…we will **NEVER **forget you!! Even though we will be given a Forgetting Syringe, it won't be strong enough to forget about you!!! We love you Hotaru-chan, you're out best friend! Even Ruka thinks so!"

Ruka turned pink. "Y-yeah"

Hotaru sighed. "It's stronger than you think, Mikan-chan…the Forgetting Syringe is very strong. And if Kaito gets his hands on Natsume too, you're going to forget about him as well. Natsume and I will vanish from your lives"

Natsume gulped. "Really?"

Hotaru nodded solemnly.

Mikan stood up. "NO! I WILL NOT FORGET ABOUT NATSUME OR YOU!!! YOU TWO ARE SO IMPORTANT TO ME!!!"

Hotaru looked at Mikan. "What can you do?! You two are just humans with no special powers! You don't have abilities of the elements and you don't even know how to use black magic or white magic!! It's useless!!! Face it, this is reality so…"

Natsume shook his head. "So you must live with it"

"I am a Vampire and Hotaru's…Hotaru's a Stitched Demon. This is our lives & you can do nothing about it. Sure you can pray or something, or even hope but you can't just take us away from what's waiting for us. If we're taken by tomorrow, then…then that's it"

"There's **FAITH **Natsume! There's courage too!!! If you just give up like that then it's inevitable that we'll end up as nothing…that this whole year was a mess and was totally useless. That…that meeting you was useless"

Hotaru shrugged. "It's one day at a time I guess"

"Mikan-chan…face the facts, it won't hurt that much when we forget about them" Ruka said, his voice drenched in sadness.

"NO!! Who cares about that magic of the Forgetting Syringe… HOW CAN I FORGET ABOUT THEM WHEN MY HEART WON'T?!?!" Mikan yelled, her voice echoing throughout the room.

"If you won't have faith or courage then its true…you'll all end up as nothing!!"

The three of them just watched her face redden with anger.

"I HATE YOU NATSUME…I HATE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD!!!" the brunette yelled, running to her room.

_**I hate you, Natsume. **_

_**I hate you more than anything in the world. **_

_**But I don't understand…**_

_**Why I have this certain feeling inside for you.**_

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**To be continued…**

…**NOTES…**

Ultimate YIHEE!!! Someone's falling in love with someone!!! More MxN and RxH in the next chapters!!! Luv ya!


	21. His Forbidden Thirst

**...THANK YOU…**

kagome's heart102, lysabelle, Umbreon-Rawks, Pink Fire101, TearsandSorrow, SarcasticHeartlessAngel, Star Sapphirex, tinkerbellie, **Crazy-Baka14, littledoggy, **SnowCharms, MoonLove Angel, **Rukaru-kun, **anitsirhc, RoyalGoddess, **Aminatsu032, **li'l kitty, **may520 **for reviewing!

…**NOTES…**

I'm currently making a new fan fic which will be posted after this fan fic is done! Hope you guys like it when I post it!

…**WARNING…**

**OOCNESS MAY BE FEATURED IN THIS CHAPPIE.**

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**Chapter Twenty One**

His Forbidden Thirst

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**Stupid! **

Stupid Forgetting Syringe! Stupid Kaito! Stupid Hotaru! Stupid Ruka!! **STUPID NATSUME!!!!!**

She sat up from her futon, her eyes wet with tears. She stared at her alarm clock which read 3:00 am. She hadn't gotten any sleep that night for the thought of that evil Forgetting Syringe and the pessimistic vampires flooded her head with much disturbance. How could they just say that they'll leave her life forever just like that? There's always hope! But they can't see it because they're so…they're so…**STUPID! **

She fell back on the fluffy pillows on her futon, her mind in turmoil. She was just a human & there was nothing more she could do to prevent Hotaru's death and Natsume's capture. She had no powers, she couldn't do black magic or witch craft…she couldn't do anything. She was frustrated. She wanted to help them out so much but all she could do was do what a normal human does. It made her heart tear into pieces and it wasn't a nice feeling at all.

She rubbed her eyes which were now plentiful in tears and stood up. She opened the lights and opened the window. A cool breeze brushed against her cheeks and her chocolate colored hair. It blew away her tears and she sighed. She watched the stars sparkle effortlessly in the sky. "I don't want to forget you" she murmured.

The brunette definitely knew that it would be less painful if she would forget about Hotaru and Natsume but at the same time, she still wanted them to remain in her heart. Especially Natsume. Yes.

ESPECIALLY NATSUME!

He had made himself a little space in her heart and day by day, no…minute by minute the little space would grow deeper and bigger and she felt that it would take over both her heart and her mind. And though she thought it was a terrible feeling because it would make her face flush hotly, she wanted it to remain forever because the thought of Natsume made her feel warm.

She didn't know what this feeling was. It was bittersweet. She couldn't understand it. She had never felt this way for **_anyone _**before. What was this?

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_Mikan found herself in a dark place, holding Natsume in her arms. _

"_Natsume-kun!!Wake up!!" _

"_Congratulations, moron…your wish came true...I got it back…" _

"_That's good…but why are you so weak?" _

"_It's overwhelming, I guess. My body's not used to it, I think this is the possible end of me…" _

"_But…why?! Natsume!! You're lying!!" _

_Natsume shook his head. "I have something to tell you…"_

"_What?" _

"_I…_

Mikan sat up again; she felt eye bags forming below her eyes. Sweat trickled down her neck. She stood up and looked at the window, dawn was settling in and the window was decorated with frost. Mikan went out of her room to eat some breakfast so she wouldn't be late for school.

She went to the kitchen and put some water into a kettle to heat it up. She got some powdered hot chocolate from the pantry and spooned some into a mug. While the water boiled, she got some bread from the breadbox and took a piece and got some butter from the refrigerator as well.

"It was that dream again…" she told herself, as she spread the butter on the bread. Why did that dream torment her so? She didn't even know what the hell it meant but she was still bothered by it very much.

Jii-chan came out of his room. "Ohayo, Mikan" he said, giving his granddaughter a kiss.

"Ohayo, grandpa" she murmured softly, pouring the hot water into the mug.

"Are you feeling ok? You seem a bit gloomy this morning" Jii-chan said, slicing some fruit.

Mikan nodded. "I'm feeling fine, grandpa. Just a bit sleepy"

"Anything bothering you? Like nightmares?"

Mikan recalled the dream.

"Yes" she muttered, mixing the hot chocolate very slowly. "Yes, nightmares…"

"Oh, shouldn't you be giving Natsume his breakfast by now? You're going to school later so you better get on with it"

"Shouldn't Natsume be more comfortable with us by now to prepare his own breakfast?" Mikan inquired, for she was very lazy to prepare some breakfast for the vampire right now

"He's still a guest, Mikan…"

"But he's like family already!" the brunette whined.

"Family, eh?" Jii-chan said, raising an eyebrow. "You've grown very comfortable with Natsume-kun already, haven't you? Are you two dating?"

Mikan reddened. "O-Of course not!! Natsume-kun and I are just friends!!!" she protested, taking out some bread to prepare his breakfast and then stopped. Her eyes widened. _Just friends…_somehow that term for the two of them didn't really work for her. She knows that she had used that term for her and Natsume for a long time now but suddenly it seemed so wrong.

"I'm getting the impression that you have a little crush on him…" Jii-chan said, giving a loud laugh.

Mikan reddened some more. "Don't be silly, grandpa!" she said, spreading some butter and jam onto the bread. She took some hot chocolate and poured it into a mug.

"Oh come on, it's natural for you to have some chemistry since he's been living with us for a long time now…"

It came to the brunette teen that Natsume REALLY lived with them for a long time now. He had came into her life from last year's spring to this year's winter. He had been under the same roof with her for quite sometime already. She had gotten so used to the sarcasm and insults of the raven-haired vampire that it seemed so heartbreaking for her to have the thought of him being captured and have herself take the Forgetting Syringe.

"I won't let you get captured!" she yelled.

"What?" Jii-chan said, turning to Mikan.

Mikan shook her head. "Nothing, jii-chan!" she said and walked to Natsume's room.

Natsume was still sleeping when she entered the room. Mikan bent down and watched his chest rise and fall as he breathed. She observed the way his black hair fell as he tossed and turned and how his eyes seemed so calm when it was closed, concealing those stunning red eyes. _Wait, why am I admiring his features? _Mikan thought and shook her head. "Wake up," she whispered.

"I've got your breakfast…"

Natsume didn't say anything.

"Wake up" she said again, shaking him lightly.

Natsume opened his eyes, but they weren't red anymore…they were like a faded red. They were…orange. He scanned the room as his face fell pale and his hair…his hair…was losing its blackness. It was becoming lighter. Mikan put her hand on his forehead and it was so hot that she had a sudden reflex.

"Natsume-kun…are you alright?"

Natsume gave a deep breath and shook his head. "I'm…sick…"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**I'm not going 2 school 2day coz Natsume is sick. **

Ruka and Hotaru read the text message sent by Mikan. Hotaru spent the night in Ruka's guest bedroom since she was still avoiding her master and Ruka was nice enough to offer his guest room and his mother was kind enough to allow it even though Hotaru was a girl.

"Sick? Do vampires get the same sicknesses as humans?" Ruka asked Hotaru as the two sat down for breakfast.

"Yes, the contagious ones. But there is a very dangerous Vampire disease that wipes out the blood"

"The blood?? What are you talking about?"

"If a vampire doesn't have enough blood, he gets this certain sickness which has such a difficult pronunciation that even I cannot pronounce it…but anyway, if a vampire doesn't take that much blood…he begins to have high fever, breathing difficulty and even bleeding. The sickness wipes out the blood since the blood doesn't have that much magic anymore…it's very dangerous"

"It could kill him…"

"Is there a cure?"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Ok. So this sickness is very difficult, I'm not going to be SOFT on you because you must know. This sickness can kill HIM. It wipes out the blood cause he's not having enough blood at all. Anyway, there's something called Moon Energy. Vampires are in their strongest form when night falls. You must take Natsume out during night and let him bathe in the moonlight. I dunno if that is REALLY the cure but that's all I know. Make him bathe in the moonlight for like, 30 minutes or so. It will make him stronger but I dunno if that will last long. Hope for the best. –Hotaru **

Mikan read those words from her cell phone as if it were poison. It could kill him?!

A pool of blood lay on his futon as Natsume breathed with much hardship. His hair was now grayish black and his eyes were dark orange. He held onto Mikan for dear life and he coughed out blood. Mikan watched him suffer in terror.

"Natsume! Why didn't you take enough blood?" she said, shaking his weak arm.

Natsume swallowed. It was like he took up so much energy just to talk. "I didn't…want…to…_hurt _you…If I bit you…you'd become a vampire too and I didn't want you to suffer…a great deal of pain like I did…when I became…one…"

_He didn't want to hurt me? _The brunette gulped. Tears began streaming down her cheeks and she clutched Natsume's hand as if it was something precious. Her face reddened and she let the tears sting her eyes as she put Natsume's cold hand on her cheek for warmth.

"Natsume-kun…"

A tear rolled down on Natsume's hand and he looked at Mikan. "Don't cry you stupid girl…it will make you even uglier than you are now…"

"I…I'm so sorry Natsume…it's just that I had that STUPID DREAM AGAIN!!!"

"Oh that one…maybe…maybe it is true!!!"

"SHUT UP!" Mikan yelled, putting down his hand. "Why do you have to be so negative about things?! Sometimes dreams don't come true!"

"_SOMETIMES" _Natsume said, looking at Mikan weakly. "Sometimes they do…"

"I HATE YOU!!!" the brunette yelled, putting her hands on her face.

"Telling me that you hate me won't make me any better"

Mikan had to admit that it was true.

"You're so important to me Natsume-kun, and seeing you weak like this is so horrible!! It makes my heart shatter into a million pieces. You must get better! Because seeing you suffer pains me and I HATE the feeling!! Get back to your original self"

"You mean my sarcastic, insolent and annoying self?" Natsume said, giving a weak smirk.

Mikan nodded. "I like that YOU better"

"I'm a vampire… …I don't want to hurt anyone so I didn't drink blood…so I must face this obstacle whether I like it or not"

The brunette continued crying and squeezed Natsume's hand.

"That hurts"

"Gomenasai" she said, lessening the pressure. "Please feel better"

Natsume sighed. "I'll try"

"You shall bathe in the moonlight later so you can get better" Mikan said, giving a smile.

"Fine"

"I want you to **live** Natsume-kun…even if it means getting your soul back!"

"That's impossible"

Mikan stood up. "No! I'll fight Kaito! And the rest of the vampires, and I'll get your soul back and…"

She smiled. "You'll live a good life. And we'll be…we'll be together…ok?"

Natsume closed his eyes. That he could take. "Whatever"

"I'll go out for awhile and get some groceries"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**The **brunette put on a yellow sweater, some warm velvet pants, black snow boots and a red scarf. She let her hair down because it was warmer that way and put on a bonnet. It was horribly cold and she didn't want to get sick. She promised herself that she'd stay healthy to tend to Natsume, and make him feel better. She took her wallet and walked out the door.

The afternoon was colder than the morning and when Mikan exhaled, smoke escaped out of her nose. She watched her neighbors shovel out the snow which was blocking their driveway and polishing their windows which was blurred with frost.

She wondered why she was the only one walking. Perhaps it was too cold? Maybe they took their car instead? No. The cars were blocked by a thick blanket of white so there was no point in driving and walking was much more sensible. But really, she couldn't be the ONLY one walking to the grocery now.

Suddenly, someone took her shoulder.

"Mikan-chan!!"

Mikan turned around. "K-kaito!"

She felt a sudden scared feeling creep down her chest. Her heart raced and she wanted to make a dash for it but she couldn't. She was with Hotaru's master but she couldn't run away or anything or he'll suspect that she knows!! She stiffened as he put his arm around her.

"Going to the grocery, eh? Me too! Mind if I walk with you"

_YES. I MIND. _Mikan thought.

"N-no, of c-course not!"

"Why are you stammering?"

"B-because of the cold weather…I really hate winter, you know!"

"Yeah. So cold and bitter…" Kaito said, and they came to a stop. He put his hands on Mikan's face.

"What are you doing?' Mikan asked.

Kaito smiled lovingly and ran his fingers through Mikan's hair. He pulled her close to her and slipped his hands on her back. Mikan felt downright awkward as he felt through her hair and breathed down her neck.

"What are you doing?" she asked again.

"I'm _in love with you" _he said, and pulled a few inches from Mikan. "I'm in love with you, Mikan"

He then locked Mikan into his arms and cupped her chin with his fingers. He held her so tight that Mikan couldn't even move. He put his finger on her lips. "I want to kiss you" he murmured and crashed in to lock his lips with hers.

She couldn't move. It was as if she was frozen herself, she watched his lips near hers. Then, she felt his lips crash into hers, her eyes widened and then she felt a certain burning sensation in her heart. It was like someone poured kerosene into her soul and lit it. Then she felt something rise out of her mouth, it tasted like chocolate smoke. Oh God…**IT WAS HER SOUL.**

Then suddenly, Mikan saw a fist hit Kaito's cheek and the evil boy fell to the floor.

Mikan turned and saw Natsume panting, blood trickling down his lips and his fingers.

"Don't…

Touch…

Mikan…"

Kaito smoothed his pants and smiled sinisterly. "Dear me, dear me…it seems that my dear Natsume has fallen in love with this indolent human!! Well vampires can't fall in love with humans you damned creature!" he said and turned to Mikan.

"Your soul tasted good…but your stupid boyfriend intruded and it returned back to you!!" He said and held Mikan tight to give her another kiss. "I don't give up that easily"

Mikan saw a different side to Kaito. Instead of seeing his angelic disposition flutter about, she saw a monster. He still looked the same but his eyes flashed with yellow fire and fangs slipped out of his lips.

"NO!" Mikan yelled, slapping Kaito. "Natsume-kun…"

But Natsume was frozen as ice.

"What have you done to him?"

"Frozen him…" Kaito said, giving a sinister grin. "Now I shall take your life"

Mikan watched her feet glue to the ground with ice in horror. "NO! LET ME GO!!!"

Kaito put his arms around Mikan and smoothed her lips, in preparation for "the kill". "Keep quiet"

"NO!!" Mikan said, squirming about. "STOP IT!!!"

"_**DON'T TOUCH MIKAN!!!!" **_

Natsume used most of his power to get out of the ice that he was embedded in and lunged at Kaito. He punched and kicked him until he began to bleed.

In an instant, Kaito vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Is he dead?' Mikan said, walking to the spot where Kaito was.

Natsume locked Mikan into a tree and looked at her sternly. He breathed with much difficulty.

"Natsume-kun…"

"Kaito contaminated you…" he said.

And in that instant, he put his lips to Mikan who's eyes widened in pure shock. She didn't kick or squirm like she did with Kaito but let Natsume's lips sink into hers. The warmth of his lips against hers was so overwhelming that Mikan couldn't help but run her fingers through Natsume's hair. It was warmer than a bonfire and simply removed the cold winter feeling from her body. Oh, how wonderful this feeling was.

Natsume broke the kiss and put his hand on his lips. "N-Natsume-kun…what was that for?" Mikan asked, her face all pink.

"I wanted to see if he took your soul, apparently…he didn't"

Mikan sighed. _It didn't mean anything, did it? Why did I even expect that it did?_

"Oh…I see…"

Then, sunset began.

"Natsume-kun! The moon is about to arrive!" Mikan said, totally forgetting about what just happened.

They waited for a bit and then the moon rose. Natsume's cheeks flushed with color and his hair darkened.

"Hotaru-chan was right!!" Mikan grinned, turning to Natsume. "Are you feeling better, Natsume-kun?!"

Natsume nodded. "Much better!"

Mikan flung her arms around Natsume and gave him a hug. Natsume put his hand on her head and ran his fingers through her hair and buried his nose into the strands and smelled the delicious citrus shampoo scent that her hair smelled of. Mikan closed her eyes and smiled, savoring the momentas she and the raven-haired vampire held each other very tight.

_I think I'm in love with you, Natsume._

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**To be continued… **

…**NOTES…**

Don't you just envy Mikan?

I hope you liked this chapter! Please review, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Hehe. Anyway, I hope you liked it! I'm kinda sleep already…and also SCARED since I'm alone in this room and I hate being alone in a room at night…anyway, I'll stop my blabbing now and I hope to see your reviews! Luv you!


	22. The Carnival

…**THANK YOU… **

lysabelle, cy33, deynaz, Star Sapphirex, Tears and Sorrow, cupidsangel, Sarcastic Heartless Angel, Pink Fire101, SilverYuki, kemcat16, tinkerbellie, **_may520_,** kagome's heart102, simplebutspecial, **_Crazy-Baka14_**,

Royal Goddess, Ikuru Ainoko, _**Rukaru-kun, Aminatsu032**, _Nephie-chan, Kaya-chan90, Yui-Konoichi-no-Kage, -chilly07-, anitsirhc, Moon Love Angel, Snow Charms, glenda23, Mawam

…**NOTES…**

Thank you everyone for your reviews!! I'm so happy and you guys have been encouraging me!! You don't know how much you guys make me happy when I read your reviews. I want to give all of you a hug! I can't exactly give you a hug so I'll just give you a virtual one. HUG!

…**WARNING…**

Once again, OOCness **probably** may be featured here

**April 13, 2007**

Haha! Today's the birthday of Train Heartnet, from the anime of Black Cat. XDD

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Chapter Twenty Two**

The Carnival

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Weeks **passed and before everyone knew it, the bitter white blanket of snow began to melt in to birth new life. The whole of Mikan's village were now anticipating the warmer yet chilly weather and the arrival of the cherry blossom 'flood'. The birds had now had begun to make their pilgrimage back to the village and the students of Junkuji High School had now returned their velvet beret caps and warm winter coats into the depths of their closet and taking out their cooler attire.

It had been quite sometime since that incident with the evil defrosted-chicken freak Kaito and he hadn't been attending school since. He had told the teachers that he had to return to his hometown in Kyoto to attend a funeral of his grandmother's and he hadn't come back. Mikan's class now had been making ridiculous rumors that he had run away with Hotaru and the two have eloped. Mikan and Ruka found this stupid.

_I'm probably in love with Natsume _Mikan thought, staring out the classroom window watching some of the birds return. A bit of snow fell lazily from the school roof and Mikan could see a few blades of grass pop up from the now watery snow blanket.

"Sakura! Are you listening?" Noda-sensei said, calling the attention of Mikan who had been staring at the window for such a long time that he had grown to be worried for her.

Mikan faced Noda-sensei without a word, with a dazed expression plastered upon her face.

"Sakura? Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, Noda-sensei" Mikan nodded, resting her hand on her chin.

"I'm getting the impression that you're daydreaming of something…or…rather…_someone" _

The class began to whisper violently.

Mikan's cheeks flushed into a bright scarlet color. "Ah…no, sensei. I'm sorry...it's just..."

She put her hand against her cheek, feeling the intense heat creeping up her face. "It's nothing Noda-sensei"

Noda-sensei raised his eyebrow and gave a smirk. "Well judging by your grades in my class, you've been quite distracted lately. I thought you were good in History but apparently that certain someone, whoever he may be… has been distracting you from your responsibilities. You're the only one who hasn't submitted the report on World-War 2, am I right?"

"Ah…I thought I submitted that!" Mikan said, sitting up. Oh why did these teachers have to embarrass her like this?!

Noda-sensei took his record book and shook his head solemnly. "Whoever that guy is, you better tell him you're feelings so you can get that thing that's bothering you off your chest"

Mikan turned even redder. "N-Noda-sensei, you're being silly. I haven't got anything to get out of my chest, really…"

Noda-sensei turned his back and smiled. "It's only three words…three simple words…I love…"

The class started laughing hysterically. Mikan wanted to sink into the wood of her chair and float into oblivion.

"Dumb **Natsume**…" she muttered.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_I do not **like** this feeling_

Mikan trudged towards his house, holding her expanding file in her arms. The weather was crisp and nippy but it didn't carry that icy painful feeling that the coldest point of winter did. She stepped on the puddles which were once balls of snow and stared at her reflection.

"I do not like this feeling. I do not enjoy it" she whispered angrily.

She didn't like this feeling not because of the butterflies invading the pits of her stomach or the heat that would frequently creep up her cheeks whenever she thought of the raven-haired vampire but because, but because she was trying desperately to convince herself that she didn't want this feeling bothering her.

She didn't want it because fear tormented her…the fear of that nightmare.

She wanted to love Natsume, yes. But then the thought of him being captured by the devilish Kaito hurt the brunette so much that it tore her heart apart. Plus, what was the point of telling him his feelings when she would take that annoying _Forgetting Syringe _that she wanted to simply run away from.

She looked at the clear blue sky. "I love…"

"Love what?"

Mikan's hair stiffened and she turned behind her. Natsume was there, smirking at her rigid expression.

"Were you following me this whole time?" Mikan said, crossing her arms impatiently.

"No…I was having a nap and I heard your loud stomping"

"Loud stomping!! I don't stomp!! I walk…"

Natsume smirked. "Like a monster, at least…"

Mikan reddened. "Maybe YOU are the one stomping"

"Wait…wait…you were about to say something awhile ago. I love…you love who?" Natsume demanded.

Mikan reddened even more. "Ugh. It's none of your business…" she said, chinning up and walking to the house.

Natsume took her wrist and pulled the flushed chocolate-haired teen towards his chest. But he didn't hug her, he stared at her very sternly and gave her a deadly look with those stunning crimson eyes that Mikan right away, got lost in.

"It **is **my business you idiotic…"

"You don't have the right to know my secrets…l-let go of me!!" Mikan said, turning pink.

"I won't let go of you until you tell me what you were about to say"

"Since when were you so interested in what I'm to say? You never listen anyway!"

Natsume glared at her. "Tell me" he said flatly.

"NO!"

Natsume took both of her wrists with one hand and his other hand, he put it on her head for no apparent reason…to stroke it and feel through those chocolate strands but he didn't dare say why he did that.

"F-fine…I'll tell you…" Mikan said, feeling a blush creep up her cheek.

Natsume made her draw closer to her and eyed her carefully. He stroked her head as if she were a pet and his hand made its way to her back and he held her so firmly that she couldn't move a muscle.

Mikan blushed at the way he held her so close, her face was centimeters apart from his chin _(you see, he was inches taller than her that her head was in pace with his chin)_

The vampire watched the way her emerald green eyes sparkle. Ugh. How much he wanted to hold her like that forever. He did his best to resist doing that but then he couldn't help himself that's why he ended up holding her firmly in one of his arms. He clenched her wrist very carefully so she wouldn't worm out of his grasp.

"I…I love…I…love…I…um…I…" Mikan stuttered, Natsume could feel her heart race faster than a racehorse. He was worried himself for he was really scared that it wouldn't be his name that would be uttered after the 'love' part.

"I love…"

Sweat trickled down her forehead. "Love…"

_Am I really going to say it? _

"**I LOVE CAKE!" **

Mikan pulled herself from his grasp and backed away as if he were some beast. Natsume inserted his hands into his pocket and looked quite disappointed. "You liar. You're a bad liar, just so you know"

Mikan narrowed her eyes. "Who said I am lying? I love cake!"

"You were going to mention a PERSON"

Mikan opened her front door. "And how do you know? Are you a Psychic Vampire now?"

Natsume pinned her to the wall near the door and looked at her with a glint of mischief written on his eyes. "Don't you think you can fool me you little moron…"

Mikan put her hands on his arms. "Shut up" she said and put his arms down and turned the doorknob. "Really, I love cake…" she said with a tone of disappointment and shut the door.

Natsume punched his fist against the door. "Damn it!" he yelled.

"Who's the stupid guy that she was about to mention?!! That little idiot…I hate her!!"

Mikan leaned against the corner of her room and sighed; she removed her socks and removed her pig tails. Her long wavy hair fell lazily over her shoulders and she put her hands over her eyes and whimpered like a lost puppy. "Stupid me! Why couldn't I say it??"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**I **hate cake" Hotaru said lifelessly.

The brunette had visited Ruka's house to talk to Hotaru about her 'feelings'. She lay on Hotaru's futon with her eyes all red with confusion as if she was visiting a psychologist.

"Where's Ruka?" Mikan asked.

"He went out for a bit…anyway, how stupid you are for telling that you love cake instead of loving him…you are aware that if you don't confess soon it may be later than you think. Remember, Kaito isn't DEAD. He's much alive, I can still sense his frosty ugly power"

"I know!!! How stupid I am!!! What should I do?"

"I'm not great in giving advice" Hotaru said, sitting down with her arms crossed.

"It's alright! Just say anything that I can do!! Like go take diving lessons or something…"

"Tell him your feelings. That's the only thing you can do"

Mikan grunted. "I'll only tell if you tell your feelings towards Ruka!"

Hotaru blushed. "And who said I am in love with that blondie?"

Mikan sat up and gave a grin. "I do. You are better in making your feelings **_obvious _**than I am, apparently"

The stoic girl glared at her. "No. It is NOT obvious. He doesn't have feelings for me anyway so if I tell him whatever you are thinking of that I am NOT, he will just simply reject me and I'm very well tired of feeling sad"

"So you do admit that you like him!" Mikan laughed, rolling on the floor.

"I'm not as pathetic as you, that's for sure"

"There's no connection to the topic! Anyway, how can I tell him my feelings if there is no occasion? I mean it's like, it's really inappropriate for you to burst your feelings out. Supposing during dinner it's really weird if I blurt out, Oh by the way Natsume I'm in love with you…" Mikan sounded like a psycho at the moment.

Hotaru shook her head. "He will appreciate your feelings wherever you two are"

"Maybe we should go on a **_date!" _**Mikan said, gulping at the last word. "But you and Ruka have to come to help me"

"I hear there is a Carnival in the welcoming of the spring…we can probably go there…"

"A Carnival?"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**Why **must I go?" Natsume asked, surfing the channels of the television.

"Because…" Mikan said, walking to her room to plan her outfit. "Because…I said so…"

"You're acting like a middle-aged mother. Go with Hotaru and Ruka and make complete fools out of yourselves, I'll be here watching television if you need me" Natsume replied sarcastically.

Mikan walked out of her room. "You'll come!! Please, come…please…"

"I said NO! The Summer Festival was a wreck so this Spring Carnival will be a spoil too!!"

The brunette threw a pillow at Natsume. "You're such a killjoy!!"

"I know I am, right?" the raven-haired boy said smirking at the way Mikan's face reddened.

Mikan rubbed your eyes. "I want…"

"I want to make you happy, Natsume-kun!" she said, revealing red eyes pouring out numerous tears that were now dropping from her chin.

"I want to make you smile, I want you to laugh…I want you to live…" Mikan said, her voice all creaky.

Natsume stood up and poked her head. "You're being stupid, you know that?"

Mikan raised her head. "What?"

Natsume smiled a bit. "I'll go!"

The brunette gave a wide smile and wiped her eyes. "Arigato, Natsume-kun!!"

"Idiot…"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**How **thrilled Mikan was to see the Spring Carnival. It was the first time her village had celebrated such a festive celebration in anticipation for the spring's arrival. There is a Summer Festival every year and Mikan was dying to see if the Spring Carnival was as good as the Summer Festival.

The brunette pony tailed her hair with a big fat blue ribbon. She put on a loose blue shirt and tight black leggings. She put on her newly purchased blue boots and looked at herself at the mirror. She smiled with approval and went out her room.

Natsume was already dressed; he wore his safe black and white attire except he had ditched his cape. His eyes were affixed upon the television until the idiot came into the room, looking **quite **as he would say…"quite pretty" with the way she fixed herself up.

"Ah…Natsume-kun! You look _great!" _Mikan said, making herself comfortable beside Natsume.

"I wear this almost everyday, what the hell is so great about it?" Natsume returned.

"Oh…I don't know…" Mikan replied, putting her fist over her chest. _Ever since I've recognized these feelings of mine, It seems that I've been disappointing…no, annoying Natsume…Ugh. _

"Does it suit me?" she asked, turning to Natsume and pointing to her whole outfit.

Natsume examined her for awhile. It did. She had a nice figure and the way her hair fell over her shoulders looked very nice on her. But of course, knowing Natsume – a new insult was being churned in his mind hoping not to reveal his true thoughts about this naïve weirdo.

"It **would **if you're figure wasn't so…_thick-as-brick_" Natsume replied, putting his arms behind his head coolly.

Mikan threw a pillow at Natsume. "You meanie!"

**DING DONG**

"Ah…that must be Hotaru-chan and Ruka-pyon!" Mikan said, standing up.

Mikan ran to the door and Hotaru and Ruka came in.

"You guys ready?"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**So," **Ruka said, nudging Natsume's rib as the four of them walked towards the carnival. The afternoon was crisp and cool and they stepped on the which-was-once-snow of puddles. Blades of grass and small buds of flowers were now peeking through the fresh cold soil.

The carnival music could be heard from where the four were walking and colorful fireworks shot up in the air, bursting into beautiful spring colors. This made Mikan skip with excitement and sing happy songs with joy. Hotaru just watched her act like a fool and behind the two girls walked the vampire and Ruka.

"Have you told her how you feel about her?"

Natsume blushed a bit and took a glimpse of Mikan who was twirling and skipping in happiness. Damn it. How could she be so friggin cute!!! Whenever he stared at the goofy smile it made him melt. She was so cute and sweet, he wanted to grab her and hold her in his arms and claim her lips. But Natsume's self-discipline was off the charts and he held back his desire to hold Mikan.

He shook his head. "I don't think she even feels the same way" he whispered.

"But she might realize her feelings for you when you tell her!"

Natsume shook his head once more. "Don't force me to say stuff that I don't want to say"

"Heh. You **really **want to say it don't you? It's on the tip of your tongue already"

"Then why don't you tell Hotaru then if you're such an _expert on confessions?" _

Ruka turned red. "I…I…shut up!"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**There **were merry-go-rounds, water rides, roller-coasters, Ferris wheels, spinning teacup rides and so much more fun things!! There were various booths filled with different stuffed-toys, prizes, food and so much interesting stuff that Mikan was getting dizzy because of all the amusing and colorful things.

"Isn't this so fun!!! I love it already!!!" Mikan said, dancing around the place and occasionally bumping into people for the place was awfully crowded.

They spent the whole time buying stuff and playing the featured games in the booths. Mikan couldn't help but smile at everyone and Natsume would glance at her to refresh himself with that certain smile of hers every so often.

Then, night fell.

Green, pink and gold fireworks shot up in the air and Mikan and the rest watched in awe.

"I think we can get a better view up there" Hotaru said, pointing to the massive gold Ferris wheel which was lit up with red lanterns hanging on every cart.

The four of them ran to it to line up to ride on it. The four of them were going to get on one cart when the man who was managing the Ferris wheel stopped them.

"Two per cart, I'm sorry"

"Hotaru-chan and I will go together!" Ruka said in a rush, putting his arm around Hotaru who immediately turned scarlett.

"Ah…wait!!" Mikan said, stumbling while turning red. _That means I'll be alone with Natsume… _she thought, putting her palm on her cheek.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Natsume **sat across the blushing brunette who was just simply staring out the cart window, looking at the tiny people who were enjoying themselves below.

"They look so small…" she whispered, putting her palm on the cold window. She looked at Natsume whose face remained down.

"Ah…I'm so sorry if…if I had to force you to come with me…" Mikan said softly.

Natsume shrugged. "No use on dwelling on it now 'cause I'm here already"

"How does it feel like to be…er…_soulless?" _Mikan inquired, out of the blue.

Natsume closed his eyes, as if thinking of how it felt. Then he opened them again, revealing those red eyes.

"Empty"

Mikan gave a weak smile. "I promise Natsume-kun, that…that I will get your soul back. I will!!"

"Don't make promises that are truly impossible to fulfill, it'll bring your hopes up and eventually it will die down again so…don't do it…"

"Why do you have to be so negative about it?! Anything is possible, Natsume-kun!" Mikan said, reddening with much impatience once more.

"I'm just telling the truth!"

"I don't care if it's the truth or not, I want you to live!! I want you…I want you to be with me, Natsume…" she said, looking up at the vampire whose eyes widened with shock.

"If you say so" he muttered.

Mikan gave a smile and was about to fling her arms around Natsume until there was a big rumbling in the ground. Mikan looked out the window and saw a huge crack open up in the carnival and spread around different directions. The north, west, east and south were being swallowed up by a big crack that was spitting up boiling black thick liquid substance.

The black blob that was like _treacle _began taking innocent people who were running for dear life and dragging them effortlessly to the crack.

"Natsume-kun! What's happening?!"

Natsume didn't know and he just shrugged.

All of a sudden, the black goo rose and crashed into the cart of Mikan and Natsume and Hotaru and Ruka.

It wrapped itself around the four of them.

"Damn it!" Natsume yelled and turned to Hotaru. "Imai! Do you know a way to stop this?"

Hotaru fished out something from her pocket, it was a black knife with strange engravings. She sliced the goo and it fell down and retreated back into the cart.

"Kanashimi-chan!" she yelled, and her black rabbit came – bigger than ever. It still looked the same although it now had sharp teeth and had gold button eyes now. It looked much grander and had magnificent gray wings.

Hotaru hopped into her…um…"monster rabbit" and began cutting the goo that were strangling the three. They hopped onto Kanashimi as well.

"Kanashimi! Bring us far from here!" Hotaru ordered and Kanashimi nodded obediently.

Suddenly, her wings began to shrink as well as her size.

"What's happening?!" Ruka yelled, as Kanashimi lost all her power and became the stuffed toy that she usually is.

Hotaru didn't say anything and the crack opened.

More goo emerged out of the crack and consumed all four of them.

"**It ends tonight"**

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**To be continued… **


	23. Surrender Your Soul: It Ends Tonight

…**THANK YOU…**

**Defrosted Chicken Hater, **Royal Goddess, **may520, **tinkerbellie, simplebutspecial, lysabelle, SnowCharms, anitsirhc, Pink Fire101, kagome's heart102, Nephie-chan, cy33, deynaz, Star Sapphirex, Chokoreeto-Hime, renyun, glenda23, Cuna999, Typh, **Aminatsu032, Crazy-Baka14, **MoonLoveAngel, Kaya-chan90, TearsandSorrow, **manimefrances**

…**NOTES…**

To simplebutspecial: Oh, really?! Haha! Sorry if I had that typo! I don't really proofread! Hehe! Anyway, thanks for pointing it out! I really appreciate it!

To Typh: Really? Ok! I'll read it!! I love reading new books, thanks for telling me!

To Crazy-Baka14: Yeah I am, are you?

To ManimeFrances: No I wan't. NOOO. If I had known that you were gonna be there, I would go!!! My classmates were talking about this summer camp nga eh pero I was too tamad. Noooo!!! We could've met pa naman!!!

…**NOW PLAYING…**

_**It Ends Tonight**_by _**The**_ _**All-American Rejects. **_

One of my favorite bands, I love this song! You should listen to it!

Thank you to _Sofie/Defrosted Chicken Hater _for suggesting that I'd use this song for this chapter before I made this fanfic.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

Surrender Your Soul: It Ends Tonight

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

…

And then they began falling into a dark and dismal place.

It was so dark that they could see nothing, not even themselves.

The place smelled like an attic that hadn't been opened for years, and the ground was wet and soppy.

"N-Natsume-kun…where are we?" asked Mikan, completely transfixed at the situation they were in now.

"Oh no…oh God…oh no…" Hotaru whispered, her voice shaking. The three had never heard Hotaru sound so scared ever, but her voice sounded like a kitten that was waiting to be whipped and thrown out in the garbage. Ruka took Hotaru's hand. "Ah…what is it?"

Hotaru whimpered a bit. "N-no…n-no...we can't be here!!" she said, breaking down into tears.

"Hotaru, where are we?"

Hotaru fell to the wet ground and began crying. "It's the end of Natsume and I…it's the end…"

"Don't tell me we're in…"

A small light lit up the area, revealing a bit of the setting they were in. The walls were rocky and there were these cocoon-like objects hanging on the ceiling, they narrowed their eyes to see whatever it was that was taking shape inside the cocoon, and it was human-like creatures with fangs and sharp wings. They were horrid-looking creatures that were like a cross between a bat, monkey, spider and a human.

Ruka and the rest looked down at the ground, and there was blood spilled all over the floor.

"WHERE ARE WE?!" Mikan yelled, getting extremely frightened.

"I remember this place" Natsume said darkly. "I remember this place…"

"So where are we?" Ruka pleaded.

More lights were turned on and more cocoons of those creatures appeared.

"This is like a hell house!" Mikan trembled.

"It is…" Hotaru said and stood up, her hands drenched in blood from the floor.

_Your subtleties  
They strangle me  
I can't explain myself at all.  
And all the wants  
And all the needs  
All I don't want to need at all._

"Dear sweet Hotaru," a voice echoed from the dark areas of the room. "And Natsume, how nice of you to come…"

Everyone froze.

"But wait, why has the boy version of Goldilocks and this insolent monkey come? They are not invited to our bloodbath, are they?"

Silence

"Why are you not talking? Perhaps you want your two human friends to join in with the bloodbath…"

Still silence.

"MPH!" Hotaru shrieked.

A spotlight fell over Hotaru and she was being held by these monstrous hands that were connected to nowhere.

"Imai Hotaru, you were very naughty this year…you have disobeyed orders and you have fallen in love with a human. Have you forgotten that you are my property? That you cannot do anything without my consent? That you have no feelings at all? You are merely a stitched demon, my beloved Hotaru and you are forbidden to have a relationship with anyone…friendly or romantic…"

"Let go of her!" Ruka yelled, "She does have feelings! She's a human!! And humans have free will!!"

Cold clammy hands seized Ruka.

"Ah, how wonderful it is to love someone isn't it Ruka? Well, please be grateful that I am going to free you from this insolent demon as soon as I dispose of her. Would you like her to be burnt or be fed to the other vampires? I'm giving you the freedom to choose. Would you like a slow or a quick death for her? We have different techniques that you may enjoy…"

"You're terrible!!" Ruka yelled, and he and Hotaru were pulled towards the wall and remained being held by cold clammy hands with nails sharper than an axe.

"K-Kaito…" Mikan whispered.

"What? Did someone say my name?"

_The walls start breathing  
My mind's unweaving  
Maybe it's best you leave me alone.  
A weight is lifted  
On this evening  
I give the final blow._

And with that, a long staircase leading to nowhere appeared and on sitting on the foot of the staircase was the auburn-haired, turquoise-eyed Kaito…dressed in black with a long red cape hanging behind him. He wore black gloves and smiled menacingly at the two remaining. He stood up.

"You have no purpose for me at all, do you Mikan?" he said, walking up to the frightened human.

"Get away from me…" Mikan gulped.

_When darkness turns to light,  
It ends tonight  
It ends tonight._

"That is a very stupid thing to say, Mikan…because you know that **I WON'T**" Kaito said, and another pair of hands grabbed Mikan and pulled her to the wall.

"Let her go, you bastard!" Natsume yelled, lunging at Kaito.

Kaito stared at Natsume emotionlessly. "You little scum creature, running away from my grasp with your soul"

He pinned Natsume to the ground and put his sharp fingers on his neck, a bit of blood trickling.

"Natsume-kun!" Mikan yelled, tears running down from her cheeks.

"I promise to make this easier for you if you just surrender your little precious soul, you selfish fiend…" Kaito whispered.

"I won't" Natsume replied coolyand Kaito's nails dug deeper. Natsume flinched a bit and gasped for air.

"Fine" he said, standing up and releasing the vampire. He then took hold of Mikan and smiled at Natsume. **"I'll kill her then" **

_A falling star  
Least I fall alone.  
I can't explain what you can't explain.  
You're finding things that you didn't know  
I look at you with such disdain_

"Kaito! Mikan has nothing to do with it!" Hotaru yelled from the wall. "And so does Ruka, please let them go!"

"Shut up!" Kaito yelled, his eyes red with fury. "Or I'll take Pretty Boy's life too!"

Hotaru gulped. She had never felt so powerless before.

Then he turned to Natsume once more. "So what is it, pretty boy? Surrender your soul and I'll let go of the girl! But if you don't, I shall torture her until she gives up!"

A small tear ran down the raven-haired vampire's cheek.

_The walls start breathing  
My mind's unweaving  
Maybe it's best you leave me alone.  
A weight is lifted  
On this evening  
I give the final blow._

"I…"

"Wait!" Mikan said, her voice cracking.

"What?!" Kaito yelled, turning to the brunette with angry eyes.

"Take my soul, take my soul instead" she said, her voice breaking a bit. And her face fell, it looked like she had just lost a friend.

Kaito gave a grin. "You little romantic thing…sacrificing anything for your indolent boyfriend…"

"I don't care! I've always wanted to try becoming a vampire once…" Mikan spluttered, holding back her tears.

"You liar! You never wanted to become a stupid vampire!" Natsume yelled. "You idiotic, senseless…"

"NATSUME! WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP?" Mikan yelled, turning to Natsume with eyes full of tears.

"This…this isn't the right time to argue…"

"I agree with her, myself" Kaito smiled. "Fine, I shall spare Natsume's other half of his soul and take yours" he said to Mikan.

The brunette nodded. "Thank you"

"Mikan…do you realize what you're putting yourself into?" Hotaru asked.

"Yes, I do…Hotaru-chan – oh and please spare Ruka and Hotaru's soul as well…"

"Fine! But I do not guarantee to spare Hotaru because she has to be severely punished…"

Nobody dared to argue.

Natsume grabbed Mikan's hand. "I won't let you…" he whispered.

And then, two hands clamped over Natsume and dragged him to the wall – He wrapped his arms around Mikan and she was dragged to the wall too. Mikan turned to Natsume and put her finger to his lips.

"I'll be alright, I promise" she said, with a tone of disappointment.

"No you won't! You won't!" Natsume yelled, his voice shaking.

Mikan shook her head and then broke down and started to crying

"Please Natsume! This is my soul and I can do anything what I want with it!" she said, backing away from Natsume. "So just let me do it!"

Natsume let go of Mikan's arm and wiped away some tears that had begun falling.

_When darkness turns to light  
It ends tonight,  
It ends tonight.  
Just a little insight won't make this right  
It's too late to fight  
It ends tonight,  
It ends tonight._

"Go to hell, Kaito!" he yelled, turning to the smirking vampire who was staring at the heart broken couple.

Kaito simply laughed. "Natsume, Natsume, Natsume…this is your punishment for being so selfish of your possessions…losing the one you love the most"

Kaito put Mikan to his arms. "Don't worry, I won't make it that painful for you sweetheart"

Mikan looked drowned. She stared at the rocky floor, she couldn't bear to look at any of them for her heart was smashed into a million pieces. It was like someone stuck his hand into her chest and pulled out her heart, thus crushing it.

Natsume began crying, but he didn't splutter like Mikan did. His face was full of anger, and he couldn't hold it back anymore. He had been given another chance to love somebody and now this somebody was going to disappear before his eyes. His heart was ripped he felt as if somebody poured acid into his eyes.

He balled his fists and shut his eyes. _I'm so weak, _he thought. _I do not even have enough power to break free from this and save her…_and he had so much regret. He regretted a million things. He regretted smoking and being a rebel during his human life, and fighting his grandmother, harassing girls, ditching school…and now, he began to regret falling in love with her. **He loved her so much it hurt**.

"Ah….Natsume…" Hotaru, who was beside him muttered.

She was in jeopardy herself. She enjoyed the feeling of loving someone and feeling what the normal human felt but now she was stuck to the wall, waiting for her newly born soul to be taken next. Was it that much o a sin to fall in love? Did it pour that much toxic? Was it that bad? She wanted her own future…but seeing her position now, **she wasn't even sure if she would have a future. **

"It is the end, isn't it?" Ruka whispered.

And Ruka…from the first chapter of this story he wasn't involved in anything except the library and its books. But then he began to get involved with Hotaru, and he had fallen into her spell and couldn't help but love her. But look at him now, scratched and dishonored. He was even frustrated that he couldn't do anything about it; he wanted to free Hotaru and make her live as a normal human…but what was he to do? **He wanted to live with her, and spend every moment with her. **

And for Mikan…

She just wanted to see Natsume very happy. And she wanted him to eat, talk, travel and do all things that every person can do. She wanted him to be free from all those things that tormented him. And she thought of nothing else but sacrificing her own soul to make him happy. **She never realized that love could hurt so much. **

Mikan was taken to a rocky cliff, and below it was a black sea that wept cries of help.

"Once you jump here, your soul shall be taken from you"

Mikan nodded and bit her lip. Was she ready to do this?

There were places she wanted to go to, things she wanted to do, people she wanted to see, movies she wanted to watch…she was only sixteen and was she ready to chuck that all away with just a single jump?

Mikan closed her eyes as tears streamed down. _I've been so mean to Natsume, and if it's the only way to prove that I care for him… _

"I'll do it!"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**DAMN IT!!!!" **Natsume cried, closing his eyes and began twisting in turning, hoping to free himself from the grasp of those two sharp hands that pinned him to the wall. "I HATE YOU!!!" he yelled.

"Your love for Mikan is incredible" Hotaru whispered. "It makes you want to die"

And then she sighed. "Ruka…"

"What is it?" Ruka asked, turning to Hotaru.

It was on the tip of her tongue. _I love you… _but she couldn't say it because she was too bothered by Natsume's ripped heart. She could feel him bleeding from the inside and she couldn't think about herself now.

"This is my fault, this is my fault that I got all of you into this mess"

"It's not your fault!!" Ruka said

"Yes it is!"

"It's nobody's fault!" Natsume yelled. "So keep quiet"

Something fell out of Ruka's shirt pocket. It was the **A Really Helpful Book. **

A page opened as it fell and it read in big fat cursive writing: _**Something small can lead to great things**_

"Oh, what's that? How useless you are!" Ruka yelled, his heart in disaster. He kicked the book and its pages scattered.

"I have an idea! Thank you Ruka!" Hotaru said.

"What did I do?"

"KANASHIMI!" Hotaru yelled

With that, the stuffed toy emerged out of nowhere. It had turned into a weak white thing and its eyes were yellow. Kaito had taken its power and most of its soul. There were a few white pins stuck to its back and the pinheads seemed to be sad, it had a drained look that they didn't normally have.

Hotaru took a pin and handed it to Natsume. "Do you see that?" she asked and pointed to a big defrosted chicken.

It was humungous. It was as big as the Eiffel Tower of Paris. And there were millions of souls entering its chest and it seemed to be laughing with delight as all the sad souls entered it.

"Whenever a soul is taken, Kaito tries to take it of course but since he sold his soul to the devil it always goes to the Defrosted Chicken and no matter what Kaito does, the chicken locks the souls in and he cannot get it…but I have made a conclusion"

She took the pinhead and drained its contents. She then cut a bit of her arm with the pin and squeezed the blood into the pinhead. She locked the two in and handed it to Natsume.

"This blood is a part of me, now…if you get out of these hands that are locking you, you can fly to the defrosted chicken whilst saving Mikan and throw the pin at it. I will control the pin using Kanashimi's ears a controller. And since the pin is part of me, it will do whatever my will pleases. And my will is to free all the souls that are trapped in. Including yours…"

"But that's like, your power source…what will happen to you after that?" Ruka asked, turning to Hotaru with a worrisome expression.

"I will die," Hotaru said flatly. "But this is not considered a life anyway so it's alright"

"You can't die!" Ruka yelled, his voice cracking. "You can't die, HOTARU-CHAN"

Hotaru looked at Ruka lovingly. "I'm sorry, Ruka but that is reality. My power will be drained because of that and there's no using stopping it. Besides, many people will be saved and those vampires to-be trapped in those cocoons will be freed as well and everyone will be happy!"

"But I won't!" Ruka said, turning to Hotaru. "I WON'T BE HAPPY WITHOUT YOU, HOTARU!"

Hotaru blushed and smiled weakly. "There's always the Forgetting Syringe…"

"NO! NO!" Ruka yelled, it was as if he was throwing a tantrum.

Natsume kicked the wall and the two arms flinched with pain and let go of Natsume.

_Mikan, I'm coming to save you and the rest of the people! _

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_Now I'm on my own side  
It's better than being on your side  
It's my fault when you're blind  
It's better that I see it through your eyes _

"Are you ready, Mikan?"

Mikan nodded.

"SURRENDER YOUR SOUL!" Kaito laughed and Mikan braced herself. Tears rolled down her face

Goodbye jii-chan, Ruka, Hotaru…Natsume-kun…

And with that she jumped off the cliff, she suddenly felt her soul being taken away from her. It was a strange light feeling. It was as if you were vanishing into thin air, being deleted from existence. So this is how dying felt…it was like you're mind was being separated from your body.

All of a sudden, the feeling stopped. And two hands clasped over Mikan's back, and it cradled her so gently.

Mikan opened her eyes and saw Natsume smiling before her. "I'm not letting you die that easily" he whispered, and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Natsume-kun! Let's get your soul!" Mikan said, giving a wide smile.

"If you say so!" Natsume said and the two stopped falling. "Let's get everyone's soul!"

_All these thoughts locked inside  
Now you're the first to know_

He flew to the defrosted chicken and threw the pin at its chest. "IMAI! NOW!"

_When darkness turns to light  
It ends tonight,  
It ends tonight.  
Just a little insight won't make this right  
It's too late to fight  
It ends tonight,  
It ends tonight _

Hotaru, who was still wrapped in the wall's arms closed her eyes and placed her hand over Kanashimi. Then she opened them again and then the big defrosted chicken was rumbling. And then, suddenly… bright colorful lights that resembled Christmas lights burst out of the chest.

Fireworks of souls shot up into the sky and the vampires who were sleeping in the cocoons broke free from their prison and welcomed their souls to their body.

"YOU DAMNED CREATURES!!!" Kaito yelled, and then suddenly there was a big earthquake and the spot where Kaito was standing broke and he fell into the cracking ground.

Hotaru was now dying.

There was much hardship in breathing and her eyes were turning green. The hands let go off her and she and Ruka fell to the floor. Ruka put his hands on Hotaru's cheeks and watched her pant and gasp for air in horror.

"Hotaru-chan…"

"Ruka-kun…" she swallowed and clung onto the blonde boy, she clutched onto his shoulder and began panting. "Ruka-kun…"

"What is it?"

She began coughing out blood and Ruka stared at her worriedly. She closed her eyes and whispered "I'll tell you something…"

Ruka stroked her cheek. "What is it?"

Hotaru began coughing and wheezing. "I'm glad, I met you Ruka...thank you for being so kind to me"

And with that, her hand slipped from Ruka's shoulder and fell to the floor. "Thank…you…"

"HOTARU-CHAN!"

Ruka put his hands on her cheek and kissed her, but he didn't get the response that she expected. Her lips were cold and lifeless and when Ruka broke from the dead kiss, he put his hand on her chest and realized

She was dead

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

Mikan found herself in a dark place, holding Natsume in her arms.

"Natsume-kun!!Wake up!!"

"Congratulations, moron…your wish came true...I got it back…I got my soul back"

"That's good…but why are you so weak?"

"It's overwhelming, I guess. My body's not used to it…I think this is the possible end of me…"

"But…why?! Natsume!! You're lying!!"

Natsume shook his head. "I have something to tell you…"

"What?" Mikan asked, caressing Natsume.

"_I love you, Sakura Mikan…I've loved you from the day I met you…from the day I crashed into your house…" _

And Natsume sat up and kissed her. He savored the taste of her strawberry flavored lips and he ran his fingers through her hair, Mikan wrapped her arms around his neck and Natsume smirked to himself and stroked her cheek.

Mikan was about to tell him her feelings as well but Natsume suddenly broke away from the kiss and fell to the floor.

"Natsume…" Mikan said, putting her hand on Natsume's cheeks. Then his body began to feel cold and lifeless. She shook him very hard, hoping to wake him up. "Natsume! Wake up!!"

_When darkness turns to light  
It ends tonight,  
It ends tonight.  
Just a little insight won't make this right  
It's too late to fight  
It ends tonight,  
It ends tonight_

Then the raven-haired boy dissolved before the brunette's eyes and all that was left with her was his earring.

Mikan clutched the earring and put her hands to her eyes. She collapsed onto the floor and began crying.

"Natsume…I love you so much…I love you so much…" she spluttered, her heart felt like it was being burned. "But you left me tonight…how could you?"

_Tonight  
Insight  
When darkness turns to light,  
It ends tonight._

And the two crushed humans, simply stared at the floor…

**Wondering why they even dared to love**

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**To be continued…**

…**NOTES…**

It's not the end yet! So stay tuned because you might be surprised in the closing chapter!


	24. the Epilogue

…**THANK YOU…**

Tinkerbellie, li'l kitty, Ichigo Ling Yi, Kaya-chan90, deynaz, sherea, Chokoreeto-Hime, SarcasticHeartlessAngel, TearsandSorrow, kagome's heart102, **Aminatsu032, Defrosted Chicken Hater, Crazy-Baka14, **anitsirhc, **may520, **lenie, Silver Yuki, renyun and glenda23 for reviewing the previous chapter.

…**DISCLAIMER…**

Sniff. It's my last disclaimer for this story. Boo Hoo.

…**NOTES…**

Thank you, thank you again!! You really brought up a smile to my face!!! You guys are all my friends!!! And I'm so grateful for your encouraging notes. One day, I'm going to return to you the kindness and appreciation that you've showed me. Or, I'll just probably leave a review for your fanfics ne?

**To **_**Crazy-Baka14**_Yes, I have a title & plot for it already. URGH. The Terms and Conditions are so limiting. Thanks for telling me! Take care!

_**THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO THE PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED THE PROLOGUE UP TO THIS EPILOGUE! **_

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**WHEN DARKNESS FALLS**

**EPILOGUE**

By Keiko Oda-san

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"_**I**__ love you, Sakura Mikan…I've loved you from the day I met you…from the day I crashed into your house…"_

…

Mikan's eyes shot open. They were generous in stinging tears which dripped down her chin and onto her bed sheets. Sweat trickled down her temples and her heart was racing faster than ever. Her muscles and her bones ached, it was as if she had an hour-long work out in the gym. Her eyes were heavy and tired and she felt exhausted.

She found herself lying on her bed, wrapped in her warm bed sheets. She sat up and rubbed her painful head.

_Was it all a dream? _She wondered, scanning her room. It seemed like it, for nothing seemed to be missing in her room. Everything, from her collection of pandas to her school books were all in their right place. Her table and her closet was neat and orderly and she could already hear the bluebirds singing out her window and she could see the morning dew stick to the leaves of the trees outside.

_Was it just a horrible nightmare? _She thought once more and massaged her aching arm. She looked at herself in the mirror; her eyes were puffy and had eye bags drooping down under it. She had to admit that she looked drained out and hungry.

"Natsume-kun" she murmured sadly, remembering last night's confession. She then shook her head and banged her fists against her drawer. "Damn it!! Why did you have to…"

Then she stopped and massaged her fists. "If it was a dream…then probably…"

Mikan then ran out the door and ran through the quiet hallway. She then came across the guest bed room and stared at it. Turning pink, she twisted the door knob so slowly that she could hear it creak. She let go of it, but it wouldn't open. It was locked. She backed away, her eyes glimmering with tears.

But before she could have her heart get smashed into ten million bits once more, the smell of pancakes arose in the air and caught Mikan's nose. She followed the smell to the kitchen and saw someone in pajamas, peering into the refrigerator.

"N-Natsume-kun?" she said, walking up to the refrigerator. _Please let it be him… _

But sorry to say, it wasn't.

"Oh…grandpa" Mikan murmured with a hint of disappointment in her tone, as Jii-chan closed the refrigerator. "Ah…Mikan, you're up early" he said, giving his granddaughter a kiss on the cheek. Mikan simply shrugged and sat down.

"Have you seen Natsume?" she asked, resting her chin on her palm.

Jii-chan gave Mikan a weird look. "Natsume? What?"

"Natsume!! The boy who lives with us…duh…is he still sleeping or something? Cause his room is locked, normally…he leaves it open…" she muttered.

Jii-chan scratched his head. "Natsume…"

_Why is Jii-chan acting as if it was the first time he heard of Natsume? _Mikan thought, her mind in turmoil.

"Is Natsume some new pet you just adopted or something? A dog, perhaps? I saw one outside this morning so…"

"A dog!? Jii-chan, don't be silly!!!" Mikan yelled as Jii-chan made himself a cup of coffee

"I'm not" he replied with a tone of confusion in his voice.

"Jii-chan!!! Don't you remember Natsume? The boy who lives with us?! The one who has been with us for a year now, the one who lives in the guest room!" Mikan insisted, her voice slightly cracking.

Jii-chan sat beside Mikan and gave her a look that you would usually receive when a friend or a loved one had died. He patted Mikan's head and took the morning paper. "Aren't you too old to be playing with Imaginary Friends by now?"

Mikan's eyes widened. "Imaginary Friends?! Natsume is real!!! You were the one who invited him to stay here!!!" She could feel a knot forming inside her throat and her heart being broken into countless shards that pierced her insides.

Jii-chan stared at Mikan as he placed his palm against her forehead. "Are you feeling alright? Do you have a fever or something? Do you want me to call a doctor?"

Mikan fell from the chair and stood up, her eyes were now blurred with tears and her wrenched heart was now wounded than ever. "Jii-chan…t-this is…n-not a good time to be playing pranks…" she spluttered, rubbing her eyes for they were now generous in tears.

"Mikan, why would I play on a prank like that? **Natsume isn't real**!"

The words stung her like poison.

"HE IS REAL!!!!" she yelled, her voice echoing throughout the house. "HE'S REAL!! I LOVE HIM!!!"

Jii-chan sighed. _She's too stubborn…_he thought. "Then why don't you tell him that? Maybe he'll appear or something?" he said, as if he was talking to a five-year old kid who was playing with imaginary friends. He buried his nose inside the pages of the morning newspaper and didn't utter a word.

Mikan burst into tears and ran to her room. "I can't believe you forgot Grandpa!" she screamed and slammed the door shut.

She lunged into her pillows and her bed sheets and began crying her eyes out.

_Has Jii-chan taken the Forgetting Syringe? If so, then why do I still remember Natsume? Why? _She thought, but she couldn't even hear herself think because the sound of her weeping was much too much loud.

Natsume, I love you. But I can't tell you anymore, can I?

**It's too late. **

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**I'm…**I'm off, Jii-chan" Mikan murmured, walking out of her room in her uniform. Jii-chan raised his head from the newspaper and looked at Mikan sympathetically.

"I'm sorry if I made you cry, Mikan" he said as Mikan walked towards the door.

The brunette didn't even look at her grandfather; her eyes were concealed with the length of her chocolate strands as more tears dropped down to the floor.

"Mikan? Are you alright?"

Mikan lifted her head and gave the weakest smile that you could ever imagine. "Yes" she said and with that, she dashed out the door, crying her eyes out.

The morning was sunny and the blue sky was decorated with the white puffy clouds that seemed to make the day worthwhile. The sun glimmered and hit the flowers in full bloom and the damp blades of grass on her neighbors' lawn. The lavender and marigold that spiraled around the lawn couldn't be seen by the brunette for her eyes were blurred with too much sorrow and she couldn't handle it.

She ran as fast as she could, her cheeks red and wet with tears streaming down.

_How selfish of Natsume! _She yelled inside her mind. _He left without saying a word! Doesn't he care about the people who love him? Who care about him? Who __**need **__him as much as he needed his freakin' soul?! I HATE THAT HEARTLESS CREATURE. _

She reached the gates of her school and stopped to catch her breath. She gasped for air, her body wet with sweat. She rubbed the painful tears out for they felt like needles parading her face and entered the school.

"I can live without that heartless monster" she told herself, walking to her classroom.

"I'm sure I can"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_**I **__can't take it anymore_!! Ruka thought, his mind in turmoil. He sunk into his chair, trying his best to hold back his tears. It was more painful to have your tears cry inside of you but he couldn't ruin himself by bursting out in class. It would be just too embarrassing.

"How could Hotaru do this to me?" he spluttered, covering his head with a Science textbook. His fingers quivered as he leafed through the pages, hoping to get his mind out of Hotaru. His heart felt like it had been tossed and thrown around like volleyball, and because it was played with too much – it had deflated and became nothing but a lifeless thing that was wounded and boxed too much.

Mikan entered the classroom. "Ohayo gozaimasu…" she said quietly and trudged towards her seat, glancing at Ruka whose face was concealed with the smelly textbook. She then removed it from his face and came to find his eyes red with tears.

"Don't make fun of me" he spluttered, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "W-what h-happened to N-N-Natsume?"

Mikan slammed the textbook on the floor. "Don't remind me!" she yelled and then stopped.

"Y-you remember?" she said, turning to Ruka. "You remember Natsume?!"

Ruka gave an unhappy look. "Unfortunately…DUH" he said.

Before Mikan could reply, Narumi-sensei skipped into the classroom. "Good morning class!!" he said, placing his clipboards on the teacher's desk. "And how are we today?" he said, his voice was so happy that it sounded like a happy bird chirping.

No reply. Narumi-sensei's smile faded and then he noticed Mikan and Ruka's unhappy faces sulking in the corner.

"Ruka…Mikan…what's with the long faces?" he asked, turning to the two of them.

Mikan's eyes dimmed and she turned to the window.

Ruka sat up. "With all due respect, it's none of your business!"

Narumi-sensei raised an eyebrow and turned to the class once more. "I've gotten a notification that Imai Hotaru and Kaito will not be joining us for the future semesters. I've received a letter telling me that someone had closed their school accounts" he said.

That was when Ruka burst.

Tears streamed down his cheeks and he did his best to hide it from everyone by burying his nose into his textbook, but his sniffing was heard by everyone and the class couldn't help but turn to him to see what was wrong.

"Ruka-kun? Are you alright?

Ruka turned away, his bangs concealing his eyes. "I'm fine…" he muttered.

Oh how painful it was for both Mikan and Ruka-pyon to be lying all the time.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_I've got to pull myself together! _Mikan thought, after the fourth period.

She had to. She couldn't concentrate on her work because her decimated heart was bruised too much from Natsume's disappearance. The knot in her throat was already squeezing her and it was so hard to keep the tears inside her.

"So who cares if Natsume has vanished from my life? I don't care. I've always hated him anyway. Maybe I just thought I fell in love with him after he…"

_And in that instant, he put his lips to Mikan who's eyes widened in pure shock. She didn't kick or squirm like she did with Kaito but let Natsume's lips sink into hers. The warmth of his lips against hers was so overwhelming that Mikan couldn't help but run her fingers through Natsume's hair. It was warmer than a bonfire and simply removed the cold winter feeling from her body. Oh, how wonderful this feeling was._

_He kissed me. _Mikan said, sighing as she recalled that instant when Natsume kissed Mikan after Kaito tried to steal her soul. She touched her lips and backed away to the wall. "I can't forget Natsume's kiss" she whispered and rubbed her eyes. "He's right. It would've been less painful…if…I took the Forgetting Syringe"

And then she sat down on the floor and stared at the ceiling. "Where are you Natsume? I miss you…" she asked and closed her eyes, letting a few tears stream down her cheeks. "I love you, but I can't tell that to you because you're…gone…"

Mikan then placed her palms over her lips and began crying. "No, I can live without you. I swear, I can!" she said and stood up. "Because I don't need you!" she spluttered and then wiped her tears and gave the best smile she could imagine. "I'm Sakura Mikan, and I don't need you to keep me alive!"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**Wow! **Mikan, you rock at baking cakes!"

_See, Natsume? I told you I can live without you. _Mikan said, tasting her creation during her Home Economics period. They were asked to bake a cake and Mikan did a really good job at it.

"I wonder if Natsume would like this cake…" she said, staring at the strawberries on top of the cake and then she shook her head. "Don't think about Natsume right now, Mikan" she told herself and turned to Ruka who was sitting on the counter, sulking.

"Ruka? You seriously can't be moping about Hotaru right now, right?" Mikan said, putting her hands on her hips and raising and eyebrow.

Ruka turned to Mikan. "Yes, I am. And you can leave me alone! Why are you acting so happy? Aren't you sad that Natsume is gone? Huh?"

Mikan held back her tears. "Of course I'm sad! I'm not some heartless creature like him!!! But I won't let his…um…_death _get to my studies!!! I can live without him!"

Ruka smirked. "You're the most pathetic person"

"And why? I don't need some stupid vampire anyway"

"You're just telling yourself to forget about him because you know…**you can't" **he said, emphasizing the last two words. "Because you need him as much as…I…need…" and then he looked down again, and uttered "Hotaru" so soft that Mikan couldn't even understand him.

Mikan dropped her spatula. "Don't say such stupid things!" she said, her voice quivering.

"I'm not" Ruka said, folding his arms. His eyes were teary as well. "And you know it.

The brunette backed away, trying her best to hold back the stinging tears that were about to fall out like bombs from her big olive eyes. "N-no…" she said, her cheeks turning red. "D-d-don't…"

And then she placed her hands over her lips and then her eyes began to blur with big fat tears. Her heart being smashed into a million pieces. Her fingers began to shiver and the knot in her throat worsened. Her legs began quivering and she burst into tears.

Without a word, she dashed out of the Home Economics room in tears.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**She **ran as fast as she could, with her tears of pain dropping down the pavement.

"Natsume, get out of my mind!!" she yelled, and then she slipped and fell on the sidewalk. Blood trickled down her knee and she stood up once more and walked instead. "Why do you have to be so cruel, Natsume?" she droned and leaned her head against the tree near her house.

"I never realized love can hurt you so much" she whispered and put her hands over her chest and closed her eyes. "I don't want to love you anymore Natsume but…"

And then she opened her pink eyes and sighed. "I love you too much"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"_**And**__ that's the evening news, thank you and good night" _

Mikan shut off the television and walked to her room. It was eight in the evening but she was already so tired. But she couldn't sleep, so she attended to her homework.

She opened her notebook and stared at all the confusing equations before her. She tried her best to put her mind into trigonometry and algebra, but then she couldn't. And she ended up wetting her notebook with tears.

She shut her notebook and jumped to her bed. "I can't concentrate because of that stupid vampire"

The brunette was about to doze off into sleep when she heard something brush against her window. She sat up and rubbed her heavy eyes and opened the window. There was nothing. It was just the blackness of her dismal backyard. She shook her head and closed the window.

She returned to her bed and took her Math notebook with her to study. And then a few minutes later, she heard the knocking sound once more on her window. She sat up again, whilst yawning and checked it out. There was nothing.

"It was probably the wind" she assured herself, hoping that it wasn't a "ghost" since she was terrified of them.

Then she heard the knocking sound once more, but this time it pattered against her door. Mikan lost her patience and opened the door, and came to find nothing but a dark hallway.

But before she could turn around, someone clasped his or her hands on her mouth. Mikan couldn't see that much because the only light that was in her room was her lamp which, might I add was so old that it could only light up the table.

Mikan kicked and put up a fight but that certain someone was so strong (and not to mention so warm).

To Mikan's surprise, he lessened the pressure of the grip and then placed his face against her hair – as if smelling it. And then he began running his fingers through her long chocolate strands. Mikan blinked and gasped for air.

_I know this feeling _she said and then she pulled so hard from that person's grasp that she fell on the floor, hitting her head on the wall. She opened her eyes and then…

And then…

She found a raven-haired, ruby-eyed boy smirking in front of her. He wasn't wearing a black cape or anything like that, but he simply wore a dark blue sweater and some jeans. Mikan's eyes widened as she felt her heart stitch back together as the boy neared her.

"N-Natsume-kun? W-what are you d-d-doing here?" she said, turning pink.

"My body was able to adjust to the presence of my soul…I woke up in my hometown in Kyoto…but well, I'm not that forgetful. I remembered this certain polka-dotted panty girl in Nagoya" he said, with a hint of mischief in his tone.

Mikan turned red as Natsume knelt down on the floor, examining her from head to toe. "N-Natsume…"

Natsume placed his hands on the wall, trapping her between his arms. "I love you Mikan" he whispered and with that he crashed his lips into hers. Mikan felt a blush flutter up her cheeks as she felt the pressure of Natsume's kiss increase. She sat up from the wall and wrapped her arms around his neck as he snaked his around her petite waist and brought her closer to him.

He put his nose against her hair, savoring the citrus scented shampoo that enticed him so. He slipped his hands behind her hair and smirked at the way Mikan melted in his arms.

Mikan broke from the kiss and gasped for air. Natsume watched her and then she turned to him and gave him the happiest smile that he ever saw. "I love you so much Natsume!" she said, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks.

Natsume smirked and pulled her to another kiss once more.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

"**AAAH!!!" **Ruka yelled, sitting up for he felt something bite his nose. He sat up from his bed sheets and pillows and found a white rabbit stare at him questioningly on his lap. Ruka picked it up, his eyes in wonder.

"Usagi?" he said

"No," someone uttered. "Kanashimi"

Ruka turned around and found Hotaru in her school uniform smile lovingly at him. There was color in her cheeks and she looked so happy that it stung Ruka so and made him want to cry. "H-Hotaru-chan?"

"I have my own soul now…and I'm a free creature already. Ruka, I didn't die. I just…I just started living!" she said, flashing a smile.

And then, Hotaru flung her arms around Ruka as Ruka kissed her hungrily. Tears streamed down Hotaru's cheeks as Ruka stroked his fingers on Hotaru's blushing cheeks. The blonde boy slid his arms around Hotaru's tiny waist and stroked her soft black hair lovingly.

Hotaru pulled from the kiss and smiled at Ruka.

"I love you, Hotaru-chan" he breathed, smiling at her as well. Tears streamed down and he hugged her. "So much"

Hotaru smiled and the two kissed once more, savoring every moment they had together.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_Dear diary, _

_Hello! This is my first time writing in this notebook! My name is Sakura Mikan, a freshman in the university of Nagoya. I have a boyfriend, his name is Natsume Hyuuga and two best friends Hotaru and Ruka who are boyfriend-girlfriend also…and there was a weird boy before. I don't know what happened to him but he was a soul-hungry vampire once…what was his name again? Oh right, Kaito…_

_I wonder what happened to him…_

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**An **auburn haired boy woke up, lying down on the middle of the street.

He sat up, he was wearing a black cape. He couldn't recall anything.

And then someone, stopped and knelt beside him. "Hey, kid…are you okay?"

The boy looked at him with those stunning turquoise eyes. "Defrosted Chicken…"

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**The End? **

…**FIN…**

_Thank you for reading this, dear reader!!! I have upcoming fanfics in my hand so please keep updated!! Thank you so much! I love you all!! I hope you liked the epilogue!! ByE!! LOVE YOU!!!! _


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